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CQEXRIGHT DSFOSB& 



ROBERT FULTON 

AND THE 

SUBMARINE 



COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESS 

Columbia University 
New York 

SALES AGENTS. 

London 

HUMPHREY MILFORD 

Amen Corner, E.C. 

Shanghai 

EDWARD EVANS & SONS, Ltd. 

30 North Szechuen Road 




ROBERT FULTON 
H65-I815 

FROM * SELF-PORTRAY IN THE POSSESSION OF L. F. IOREI 



PORTRAIT OF FULTON 



ROBERT FULTON 

AND 

THE SUBMARINE 



BY 



WM. BARCLAY PARSONS 



flH 







COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESS 

^4W ri^te reserved 






Copyright, 1922 
By Columbia University Press 



Printed from type. Published December, 1922 



PRINTED BY 
THE PLIMPTON PRESS\ 
NORWOOD'MASS-U'S'A 



JMI25?3 

C1A6U(;143 



To 

A. R. P. 

WHO IN THE LINE OF DUTY DURING THE WORLD WAR 

CROSSED AND RECROSSED THE HOSTILE SUBMARINE ZONE 

THIS ACCOUNT OF THE FIRST SUBMARINE 

IS INSCRIBED 

W. B. P. 



. 



ir 



FOREWOKD 

That Eobert Fulton devoted some attention to the 
possibility of an underwater boat during the years when 
his mind was laboring with plans for the propulsion 
of boats by steam, has been known since that time. Not, 
however, until 1896, did it become clear to what extent 
he had carried his ideas. In that year Lieut. Emile 
Duboc discovered in the Archives Nationales in Paris 
the full account of Fulton's negotiations with the French 
Government and the plans of the boat that he had con- 
structed, and in which he actually plunged. Other in- 
vestigators, chiefly Lieut. Maurice Delpeuch of the 
French navy and Mr. S. L. Pesce, have made public this 
interesting record. To their respective treatises, u Les 
Sous-Marines a travers les Siecles " and " La Naviga- 
tion sous marine " the author of this book is indebted 
for much information. 

It was also known that Fulton left France for England 
in 1804 presumably to work for the government of the 
latter country in the development of torpedoes. It has 
been supposed that he made some suggestions for a 
submarine, suggestions that were not taken seriously. 
His first biographer, Cadwallader D. Golden, and his 
own published writings make no reference to an under- 
water boat. But such a boat was the basis and essence 
of his work and not merely an incidental suggestion. 
The lack of knowledge and consequently the erroneous 
supposition are due to the fact that what he actually 
proposed to the government was purposely kept secret 
for political reasons. A manuscript wholly in Fulton's 
handwriting, signed in three places, and large, carefully 

vii 



viii FOREWORD 

executed water-colored drawings made and each signed 
by him have recently been found in England. This 
manuscript and drawings show that the main idea that 
he laid before the British Government was a sea-going 
submarine vastly superior to the one that he had pre- 
viously submitted to the French authorities. The manu- 
script and other substantiating documents and letters 
that have been examined prove clearly that it was alarm 
on the part of the British Admiralty regarding his 
initial French submarine that led the government to 
induce Fulton to go to England and place himself and 
his devices unreservedly at their service. 

This record, now published for the first time, shows 
that Eobert Fulton was unquestionably the first one to 
design a practical vessel capable of submerging and 
rising at will, that could keep the sea for an extended 
period of time with a large crew, and that could be pro- 
pelled either on or beneath the surface, or that could 
lie safely at anchor under either condition. The record 
also shows that Fulton foresaw with extraordinary 
clearness conditions that might arise, and which actually 
did come to pass in the great war recently ended. 

Fulton's manuscripts and letters are reprinted exactly 
as he wrote them so, far as access has been had to the 
originals, words that he erased are enclosed in brackets. 
Some of his letters taken from books have evidently been 
corrected in their orthography before publication. In 
such cases the published text has been followed. 

In the preparation of this book the author has been 
assisted, and for which assistance he makes grateful 
recognition, by Mrs. Alice Crary Sutcliffe and Mr. 
Edward C. Cammann, descendants of Mr. Fulton, who 
have kindly placed at the author's use their great grand- 
father's papers; by Mr. L. F. Loree who did the same 
with his collection of Fultoniana; by the British Am- 
bassador who procured a search of the British Govern- 



FOREWORD ix 

ment records, and by the New Jersey Historical Society. 
The author has drawn from a number of works on 
Fulton, particularly the biography by Colden (1817) 
and " Eobert Fulton " by H. A. Dickenson (1913), as 
well as the French volumes above mentioned. 

Wm. Barclay Parsons 

New York, 1922. 



_ 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER 1 

Page 
From Art to Engineering 1 

Instructions to Barlow regarding the "Drawings and Descriptions". 
Fulton's youth (1765-1782). Residence in England studying art 
(1786-1793). Change from art to engineering as a vocation (1793). 
Arrival in France (1798). 

CHAPTER II 

Early Attempts at Sub-surface Navigation 15 

Fulton's first efforts for mechanical navigation. Some early sub- 
marines: Bourne, Van DrebbeL, Mercenne, de Son, Wilkins, Bushnell. 



CHAPTER III 

Fulton's First Submarine 24 

Fulton begins work on a submarine (1797). Nautilus launched at 
Rouen (1800). Havre experiments. Fulton aided by Monge and Laplace. 
Received in audience by Napoleon Bonaparte. Hopes and disappoint- 
ments. 

CHAPTER IV 

Negotiations with France 39 

Nautilus reconstructed and tested at Brest (1801). Reports to Monge, 
Laplace and Volney. Great expectations. Final rejection (1802). 
Partnership with Robert R. Livingston. Work begun on steamboat. 
British Admiralty aware of his submarine accomplishment. Induced to 
return to England (May, 1804). 

CHAPTER V 
The "Drawings and Descriptions" 54 



CHAPTER VI 

The British Contract 78 

Size of the "Drawings and Descriptions." Pseudonyms. Pro- 
posals. Contract with the British government. Was Fulton false 
to his principles in supporting Great Britain against France? His finan- 
cial position under the contract. 

xi 



xii CONTENTS 

CHAPTER VII 

Page 
Experience in England 93 

Attack on fleet at Boulogne. Torpedoing of Dorothea (1805). 
Effect of Trafalgar on Fulton's work. Copies of "Drawings and Des- 
criptions." Intent of government not to proceed with the submarine. 
Correspondence with Lord Hawkesbury and Mr. Pitt (1804). Com- 
mission of investigation appointed. Decision adverse to a submarine. 
Nevertheless Pitt signs contract. 

CHAPTER VIII 

Negotiations with Cabinet 103 

Fulton begins to have doubts of accomplishment (1805). Correspond- 
ence with Mr. Pitt and Lord Castlereagh reciting his contract, rights 
and claims. Pitt dies (Jan. 1806) and Fulton begins anew with Lord 
Grenville and Lord Howick. 

CHAPTER IX 

Further Correspondence 114 

Demand for arbitrators. Further correspondence with Lord Gren- 
ville and Howick. 

CHAPTER X 

The Failure op the Negotiations 124 

Arbitrators appointed. Fulton's presentation of his case (Aug. 

1806). Arbitrators decide against Fulton. He makes a last appeal 
to Lord Grenville, reviewing whole case (Sept. 1806). No reply. 

CHAPTER XI 

Return to America 139 

Summary of the British Negotiations. America used as a threat. 
Offer of neutrality. Fulton's review of the past and plans for the 
future. Appeal to Jefferson. Departure for home. 

CHAPTER XII 

Examination of Fulton's Design 146 

What the Nautilus accomplished. The British design compared with 
that of the Nautilus. Folding propeller. Horizontal propeller. 
Details of machinery. Effectiveness of the vessel. Screening the 
Channel. 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 

Robert Fulton (self-portrait) Frontispiece 

TO FACE PAGE 

Title page of " Report on the Canal between the Rivers Heyl and 

Helford" 8 

Jonathan Hulls' Steamboat, 1737 16 

de Son's Underwater Boat, 1653 18 

Fulton's " Nautilus," 1798 26 

Manuscript page of " Drawings and Descriptions" with Fulton's 

signature 54 

Manuscript page from " Drawings and Descriptions " 56 

Fulton's Drawings of Submarine : Plate the First 60 

Plate the Second 61 

Plate the Third, 62 

Plate the Fourth 63 

Plate the Fifth 64 

Plate the Sixth 65 

Plate the Seventh 66 

Plate the Eighth 68 

Plate the Ninth 70 

Plate the Tenth 72 

Plate the Eleventh 74 

Plate the Twelfth 76 

Compressed Air Cylinder 77 



Xlll 



ROBERT FULTON AND THE 
SUBMARINE 

Chapter I 
FROM ART TO ENGINEERING 

Instructions to Barlow regarding the "Drawings and Descriptions." 
Fulton's youth (1765-1782). Residence in England studying art 
(1786-1793). Change from art to engineering as a vocation (1793). 
Arrival in France (1798). 

".. . . .1 am now busy winding up everything and 
will leave London about the 23rd inst. for Falmouth 
from whence I shall sail in the packet the first week 
in October and be with you, I hope, in November, 
perhaps about the 14th, my birthday, so you must have 
a roast goose ready. The packet, being well manned 
and provided will be more commodious and safe for an 
autumn passage, and I think there will be little or no 
risk; at least I prefer taking all the risk there is to 
idling here a winter. But although there is not much 
risk, yet accidents may happen, and that the produce 
of my studies and experience may not be lost to my 
country, I have made out a complete set of drawings 
and descriptions of my whole system of submarine 
attack. . . . These with my will, I shall put in a tin 
cylinder, sealed and leave them in the care of General 
Lyman, not to be opened unless I am lost. Should such 
an event happen, I have left you the means to publish 
these works, with engravings, in a handsome manner, 
and to which you will add your own ideas — showing 
how the liberty of the seas may be gained by such means." 

1 



2 ROBERT FULTON AND THE SUBMARINE 

Thus Eobert Fulton wrote to Joel Barlow who had 
been his close friend and faithful guide since his arrival 
in Paris in 1797. The letter of which the above is but 
an extract is dated London, September, 1806, and was 
written, as the context shows, on the eve of his final 
departure from England, after a residence abroad of 
nearly twenty years. General Lyman to whom he re- 
ferred had been appointed American Consul in London 
in 1805, in which capacity he served until he died in 1811. 

Joel Barlow was in his day a person of considerable 
importance. Born in 1754, in Connecticut, educated at 
Dartmouth and Tale, he first studied theology and then 
law. Though he practised these professions in turn for 
a short time, he retired from both to devote himself to 
literature. In 1788, he went to London and Paris to 
market some lands in Ohio, an unfortunate undertaking. 
While in Europe, he became interested in liberal politics, 
even to the extent of standing as a candidate for elec- 
tion to the French Convention of 1793. After having 
acquired a competence in commerce, and after a short 
but highly creditable service as American Consul at 
Algiers, he returned to Paris and resumed his literary 
life, his principal production being a poem entitled, 
" The Columbiad." In 1805, he returned to America, 
remaining there until 1811, when he was appointed 
American Commissioner to Emperor Napoleon. He 
joined the latter at Vilna in 1812, during the Kussian 
campaign and, as the result of exposure to inclement 
conditions on the disastrous retreat from Moscow in 
the same year, died in Poland on Christmas eve. Barlow 
was enough older than Fulton to be accepted not only 
as a friend, but as a counsellor, while his character, ex- 
perience and views on world questions appealed to the 
enthusiastic younger American in whom there was 
curiously blended a high development of an artistic 
temperament and scientific genius, and who was in 



FROM ART TO ENGINEERING 3 

thorough sympathy with the extreme liberal movement 
of the period that Barlow to some extent approved. 

When Fulton arrived in Paris in 1797, he at once 
called on Barlow. The two men were mutually attracted 
and there soon sprang up an intimacy that was to de- 
velop into the most affectionate friendship. This inti- 
macy has been compared to that existing between father 
and son, or rather between parents and son because Mrs. 
Barlow joined with her husband in taking Fulton into 
their lives. This they did the more readily as they had 
no children of their own. As evidence of the relation, 
they gave Fulton the nickname of " Toot." 

Cadwallader D. Colden, in his biographical memoir 
of Fulton, finds no fitter words to describe this friend- 
ship than by quoting as he says, " the warm language 
of one who participated in the sentiments expressed." 
From this description of the quotation by Colden, it is 
evident that the words were those of Mrs. Barlow her- 
self, who was still alive when Colden was writing the 
memoir in 1817. The quotation that Colden gives is as 
follows : 

Here commenced that strong affection, that devoted attach- 
ment, that real friendship which subsisted in a most extraor- 
dinary degree between Mr. Barlow and Mr. Fulton during their 
lives. Soon after Mr. Fulton's arrival in Paris, Mr. Barlow 
removed to his own hotel and invited Mr. Fulton to reside 
with him. Mr. Fulton lived seven years in Mr. Barlow's 
family, during which time he learnt the French and something 
of the Italian and German languages. He also studied the 
high mathematics, chymistry and perspective, and acquired that 
science which, when united with his uncommon natural genius, 
gave him so great a superiority over many of those who, with 
some talents but without any sort of science, have pretended 
to be his rivals. 

The house in which the Barlows lived in Paris and 
where Fulton lived with them for much of the time, was 



ROBERT FULTON AND THE SUBMARINE 



No. 59, Rue Vaugirard. The above quotation gives a 
suggestion of what the Barlows must have been to Fulton 
during his struggles in a foreign land, with visions of 
success almost attained alternating with bitter dis- 
appointments. It was but natural that the affection of 
Joel Barlow should be reciprocated and, consequently, 
when facing in 1806 the then not inconsiderable danger 
of a transatlantic voyage, it was to Barlow that he en- 
trusted the task of publishing the results of the dis- 
coveries and of his labors, should he be lost at sea. 

Fulton, as we know, reached America safely and, 
therefore, Barlow was not called on to publish the 
" drawings and descriptions " that Fulton had left be- 
hind in England. Due to the fact that Fulton lived 
for some years and became very prominent in the success- 
ful development of steam navigation, the drawings and 
accompanying manuscripts of a device that had not at- 
tained practical recognition seemed to have for the 
moment comparatively small value or importance and 
were put aside, perhaps after the death of Consul Lyman. 
They made no appearance until 1870, when they were 
sold at auction by a Mr. Andrews of Swarland Hall, 
Felton, Northumberland, and apparently without at- 
tracting any comment. Then for a period of 50 years, 
they rested quietly and unknown to the general public 
in the family of the purchaser. In 1920, they once more 
changed owners and passed into the possession of the 
writer. Now after a lapse of 116 years, the request of 
Fulton to his dearest friend, Barlow, a request that he 
realized when he made it might be his last, will be com- 
plied with, and the interesting story of his work through 
several years be made of record. 

Could Fulton have foreseen the development that his 
conception of submarine navigation would attain, it is 
well within the limit of probability that he would have 
preferred that publication of his plans be withheld until 



FROM ART TO ENGINEERING 5 

the basic principle had reached its present status of 
complete application. Though he lived more than eight 
years after writing his letter to Barlow, he made no 
effort to publish his plans, nor did he in any of his 
subsequent writings refer to his submarine idea nor 
what he had done in England. Apparently his sole 
thought of publishing was in the event of his being lost 
at sea on his return. If he could not carry his concep- 
tion of submarine attack into actual execution, he appar- 
ently preferred that his plans be allowed to rest quietly 
in some English private library until the idea that he 
had espoused had taken actual practical form, and the 
principles that he advocated had been proved true. Ab- 
sorbed at first on his return to America in the construc- 
tion of his steamboat, perhaps he realized in the interval 
between 1806 and his death in 1815, that the world was 
not yet ready to receive the innovation of sub-surface 
navigation, that the state of the art of engine construc- 
tion had not yet been advanced sufficiently to render 
the theory feasible and, consequently, that publication 
might have detracted from his fame as an engineer by 
apparently showing that he was a dreamer. Sometimes 
it is a misfortune to be ahead of the times. Better to 
wait until proved facts entitle one to be accorded praise 
as a man of vision, rather than through premature 
publication to be classed as a visionary man. 

Robert Pulton was born on the 14th November, 1765, 
on his father's farm on Conowingo Creek in Little 
Britain Township, Pennsylvania. His father, Robert 
Pulton, Sr., was of Scottish descent. To his mother, Mary 
Smith, a woman of force and intelligence, young 
Robert owed his early education, and from her he 
derived the personal qualities that were to make him 
distinguished. His father was not successful as a 
farmer, so that when he died in 1768 he left his widow 
and five children in very straightened circumstances. 



6 ROBERT FULTON AND THE SUBMARINE 

Of the five children, three were girls, and of the boys, 
Robert was the elder. 

This story is not concerned with the history of the 
Fulton family which has been thoroughly set forth by 
others, except to recall those salient steps in Robert's 
career that led to his investigation of the possibilities 
of submarine navigation, and the designing of a boat to 
accomplish the end so far as the then state of the art of 
boat and engine construction would permit. 

At school he did not excel in his studies which he 
neglected for sketching and mechanical experiments. 
When he was seventeen years of age, he set out to make 
his own career. As the village of Lancaster, where he 
was living with his mother, offered narrowly limited 
opportunities, he went to Philadelphia, then in many 
respects the most important city in the colonies. Not 
much is known of his early struggles, though apparently 
he devoted part of his time to art, because the City 
Directory in 1786, puts him down as a miniature painter, 
and some of his miniatures are in existence. Under the 
patronage of Benjamin Franklin, he made progress and 
earned enough money to purchase a farm for his mother. 

But the spirit that was within him — the spirit that 
was to record his name indelibly in history — led him 
to think of the greater world that lay beyond the 
colonies, even though the colonies were at last success- 
ful in their struggle for independence and were then 
engaged in the equally difficult and more prolonged 
struggle to weld themselves into a nation. In 1786, he 
sailed for England provided only with a letter from his 
protector, Franklin, to Benjamin West. At that time 
West was approaching the height of his career as painter 
in London, being chosen president of the Royal Academy 
in 1792. Under the guidance of and probable instruction 
by West, Fulton made progress as an artist, the Royal 
Academy accepting some of his pictures. 



FROM ART TO ENGINEERING 7 

The path of a young artist is rarely a smooth one. It 
is no smoother when the young artist is working in a 
foreign land without fame, friends or private means. 
What Fulton did and how he lived in London during 
the first four years of his stay in England, is best told 
by himself in his own words, in a letter to his mother 
under date of January 20, 1792, a letter given at full 
length by Dickenson. 

.... And I must now Give Some little history of my 
life since I Came to London. I Brought not more than 40 
Guineas to England and was set down in a strange Country 
without a friend and only one letter of Introduction to Mr. 
West — here I had an art to learn by which I was to earn my 
bread but little to support whilst I was doing it And numbers 
of Eminent Men of the same profession which I must Excell 
before I Could hope to live — , Many Many a Silant solitary 
hour have I spent in the most unnerved Studdy Anxiously 
pondering how to make funds to support me till the fruits of 
my labours should sifficant to repay them. Thus I went on 
for near four years — happily beloved by all who knew me or 
I had long ear now been Crushed by Poverties Cold wind — 
and Freezing Rain — till last Summer I was Invited by Lord 
Courtney down to his Country seat to paint a picture of him 
which gave his Lordship so much pleasure that he has intro- 
duced me to all his Friends — And it is but just now that I 
am beginning to get a little money and pay some debtt which 
I was obliged to Contract so I hope in about 6 months to be 
clear with the world or in other words out of debt and then 
start fair to Make all I Can. 

In 1793, when he was on the very threshold of a 
successful career as an artist, he suddenly, and without 
any explanation that is known, gave up the art of paint- 
ing and turned to the science of engineering as his life's 
vocation. It is an interesting fact that two great 
American engineers — Fulton who made steam naviga- 
tion practical, and Morse who did the same for the elec- 
tric telegraph — were both artists before they became 



8 ROBERT FULTON AND THE SUBMARINE 

engineers. The only hint as to the cause of his change 
of occupation is given by himself in the introduction to 
his first and greatest literary production, " A Treatise 
on the Improvement of Canal Navigation, " which ap- 
peared in 1796. In this introduction he said: " On 
perusing a paper descriptive of a canal projected by 
the Earl of Stanhope in 1793, where many difficulties 
seem to arise, my thoughts were first awakened to this 
subject." 

But Fulton in 1796 was something more than an 
author and investigator of canals. He was at that date 
actually in the field as a practicing engineer as is shown 
by a printed report, dated London, November 24th, 1796, 
addressed to " Sir Francis Buller, Bart, and the Gentle- 
men interested in the Helston Canal.' ' This report is 
of particular interest in that it is not recorded in any 
Fulton bibliography and no copy is to be found in the 
British Museum, or in the Congressional or other 
American public libraries. Perhaps the copy lying 
before the writer is the sole survivor. The edition was 
undoubtedly very small and the few copies, as soon as 
immediate interest was lost, were likely to be thrown 
aside as of no value. The title page is reproduced in 
facsimile on the opposite page. 

Now as an addition to the Fulton bibliography, this, 
his second book and first published account of his own 
engineering work, is of importance and merits a brief 
description. 

The pamphlet consists of fifteen pages, those of the 
copy referred to measuring 4| by 7| inches, with an 
engraved map 10J by 7| inches, showing the route of 
the proposed canal from the headwaters of St. Ives 
Bay to the navigable waters of the Helford River in 
Cornwall. 

The report possesses no scientific or constructive 
value. It presents neither plans nor details, except 



REPORT 



ON THE 



PROPOSED CANAL 



BETWEEN THE 



RIVERS 

HETL and HELFORD. 



BY 

ROBERT FULTON, 

ENGINEER. 



FROM ART TO ENGINEERING 9 

estimates of cost and earnings, obviously imperfect. 
Had Sir Francis and his friends followed the advice of 
their professional advisor, it is probable that they would 
have suffered financial disappointment. The report, 
however, is full of a young man's optimistic hopes, a 
spirit of altruism and a plea for economy. These are 
sentiments that always actuated Fulton and frequently 
find expression in his other writings. It is not impos- 
sible, in fact it is quite probable, that a desire to be of 
tangible service to others was one of the compelling 
reasons that led him to devote himself to construction 
rather than to art. The underlying thought on which 
this report is based is shown by the following extracts 
in which Fulton after pointing out how in his profes- 
sional opinion he believes that the operations of this 
enterprise will be lucrative, gives his own views of such 
undertakings as follows: 

But I hope the gentlemen of Cornwall will view them in a 
better light; and, considering them as of national utility, con- 
template the infinite advantages they give to the numerous 
operations of society. . . . 

In such investigation, if by a facility in carriage I find the 
expence of manure reduced, I then see that the farmer may 
improve more land, give a greater polish to his estates, and 
nourish agriculture to the benefit of the mass of society and 
the emolument of his landlord. . . . 

In towns, if the grocers, carpenters, ironmongers, or other 
tradesmen, have the carriage of their commodities reduced, they 
or their customers are benefitted; and so on in all professions 
where much carriage is required. If the housekeeper or cot- 
tager have their coals reduced, the comfort becomes more ex- 
tended. In fact there is no point in which a canal can be 
viewed but it exhibits advantages to the mass of the people; 
and for an evident reason, because all improvements which 
reduce manual labour, or which give a greater produce with 
the same quantity of labour, will render the conveniences of 
life more abundant, cheap and diffused. . . . 



10 ROBERT FULTON AND THE SUBMARINE 

By 1786, Fulton had definitely devoted himself to 
canal engineering, or, as he says himself in the Re- 
port of the Board of Commissioners of the Western 
Canal, published at Albany and dated February 22, 1814 : 

I passed three years at various canals in England to obtain 
practical knowledge on the manner of constructing them and 
to make myself familiar with their advantages. 

With Fulton's work on canals, his designs for inclined 
planes to take the place of locks, his financial difficulties 
and his acquaintance with the Earl of Stanhope, the 
present story has no concern, except as such work is 
the intermediate step in Fulton's career between art and 
mechanical navigation. 

That Fulton was sorely pressed as to money in these 
days, the following extract from a long letter addressed 
to Lord Stanhope, and given in full in Dickenson's 
" Robert Fulton," clearly proves: 

Works of this kind Require much time, Patience and appli- 
cation. And till they are Brought About, Penury frequently 
Presses hard on the Projector; And this My Lord is so much 
my Case at this Moment, That I am now Sitting Reduced to 
half a Crown, Without knowing Where to obtain a shilling for 
some months. This my Lord is an awkward sensation to a 
feeling Mind, which would devote every minuet to Increase 
the Comforts of Mankind. And Who on Looking Round Sees 
thousands nursed in the Lap of fortune, grown to maturity, 
And now Spending their time In the endless Maze of Idle 
dissipation. Thus Circumstanced My Lord, would it be an 
Intrusion on your goodness and Philanthropy to Request the 
Loan of 20 guineas Which I will Return as Soon as possible. 
And the favour shall ever be greetfully Acknowledged By your 
lordship's 

Most obliged 

Robert Fulton 

In 1797, Fulton conceived the idea of making a short 
trip to France and then returning to America. From 



FROM ART TO ENGINEERING 11 

various letters lie appears to have had expectations, or 
perhaps they were only hopes, that he could find oppor- 
tunity to apply his canal ideas in his own country. 
Accordingly, the summer of 1797 finds him in Prance 
en route for America. But instead of tarrying for a 
few weeks as he had in mind, he remained seven fruit- 
ful and critical years. 

In France he began at once to devote himself, as he 
had been doing in England, to the development of small 
canals, republishing in French his " Treatise on 
Canals " under the title, " Kecherches sur les Moyens 
de Perfectionner les Canaux de Navigation, etc." It 
bore date an 7, the French revolutionary equivalent to 
1799, and contained not only all the matter of the 
English edition of 1796, but also new material of par- 
ticular application to France. In 1798, he was granted 
a French patent for certain details of canal construc- 
tion, and in the same year attempted to secure the in- 
terest of Napoleon in the utilization of his ideas. The 
letter in which he makes the attempt was written in 
French, and a copy made by Fulton is now preserved 
in the New York Public Library. 1 

To General Bounaparte 
Citizen General 

Citizen Perier having advised me that you desire to know 
of my work on the System of Small Canals, I take the liberty 
of presenting you a copy of that book, only too happy if you 
will find therein some means of improving the industry of the 
French Republic. 

1 Au General Bounaparte, 
Citoyen General 

Le Cn Perier m'ayant appris que vous desiriez connaitre mon Travail sur le 
Systeme des Petits Canaux, je prends la liberte de vous presenter une copie 
de cet ouvrage, trop heureux si vous y trouvez quelques Moyens d'ameliorer 
l'industrie de la Republique Frangaise 

Parmi toutes les Causes des Guerres chaque jour, il est vrai, voit disparaitre 



12 ROBERT FULTON AND THE SUBMARINE 

Of all the causes of War, every day, it is true, sees those 
disappear which appertain to the existence of kings, priests 
and all that accompany them. But, nevertheless, republics 
will not be free of these lamentable properties so long as they 
do not free themselves from the erroneous systems of exclusive 
commerce and distant possessions. It is therefore a reason for 
every man who loves his fellows to endeavor to destroy these 
errors. Even ambition cannot seek a greater glory than in 
pointing out to men the path of truth and removing obstacles 
that impede nations from arriving at a durable peace. What 
glory can stand against time if it does not receive the approval 
of philosophy? In order to free nations, Citizen Bounaparte, 
you have executed vast enterprises and the glory with which 
you are covered should be as permanent as time itself. Who 
then can support with more efficacious approbation, projects 
which contribute to the general welfare? It is with this idea 
that I submit to you my work, hoping that if you find therein 

celles qui tiennent a l'existence des Rois, des pretres, et de ce qui les ac- 
compagne. Mais neanmoins les Republiques elles-memes ne seront pas a 
l'abri de ces funestes querrelles, tant qu'elles ne se deferont pas de ces Systemes 
errones de Commerce exclusij et de Possessions lointaines. C'est done un 
motif pour tout homme qui aime ses semblables de chercher a detruire ces 
erreurs; l'Ambition meme ne doit plus Chercher la gloire qu'en montrant aux 
hommes le chemin de la verite, et en ecartant les obstacles qui empechent les 
nations d'arriver a une paix durable; Car, quelle Gloire peut resister au temps, 
— si elle ne recoit la Sanction de La Philosophie? 

Pour affranchir les Nations, Citoyen General, vous avez execute de vaste 
entreprises, et la gloire dont vous vous etes couvert, doit etre aussi durable 
que le temps; qui done pourrait seconder d'une approbation plus efficace des 
projets qui peuvent Contribuer au bien General? C'est dans cette idee que 
je vous soumets mon Travail, esperant que si vous y rencontrez quelques verites 
utiles, vous daignerez les appuyer d'une influence aussi puissante que la Votre; 
et en effet, favoriser des projets dont Pexecution doit rendre des millions 
d'homme heureux, peut-il etre pour le genie vertueux de plus delicieuse jouis- 
sance? C'est sous ce point de vue que les ameliorations interieures et la 
Liberte du Commerce Sont de la plus haute importance. — 

Si le Succes couronne les efforts de la France, Contre l'Angleterre, il ne 
tiendra qu'a elle de terminer Glorieusement cette longue Guerre, en donnant 
la liberte au Commerce et en faisant Adopter le Systeme aux autres puis- 
sances; La liberte politique acquerra ainsi le degre de perfection et d'etendue 
dont elle est susceptible, et la Philosophie verra avec joie l'olivier d'une paix 
eternelle ombrager la Carriere des Sciences et de l'lndustrie. 

Salut et respect 

Paris 12 floreal an 6 Robert Fulton 



FROM ART TO ENGINEERING 13 

any useable truths that you will deign to support them with 
an influence as powerful as your own, and in effect to patronize 
projects the execution of which should render millions of men 
happy. Can there be for virtuous genius a more delicious 
reward? It is from this point of view that interior improvements 
and freedom of commerce are of the highest importance. 

Should success crown the efforts of France against England, 
there will remain but gloriously to terminate this long war, 
to give freedom to commerce and make other powers adopt 
the system. Political liberty will then acquire that degree of 
perfection and breadth of which it is susceptible and philosophy 
will see with joy the olive branch of an eternal peace shade 
the course of science and industry. 

This letter possesses two great points of interest. 
One that it marks the first approach of Fulton to 
Napoleon, leading as will be seen below to a far more 
important suggestion than that of building small canals ; 
and the other that it is animated by an intense desire 
for French success over England. That this was in the 
beginning Fulton's hope is to be borne in mind when, 
as will be shown, having developed in 1804 the opposite 
or pro-British sympathy, he lived and worked during 
two years in England for the destruction of Napoleon's 
power though perhaps not of French ascendancy. The 
letter speaks of a " lasting peace." That is something 
that the same nations a century and a quarter later are 
still seeking. 

How delightfully charming and naive is Fulton's 
confidence that his picture of an altruistic ambition 
would excite a sympathetic emotion in Bonaparte. If 
Napoleon read the letter he must have smiled at Fulton's 
enthusiastic simplicity. 

Fulton's leaning to French views at this time is ex- 
plained by the fact that in politics he was intensely 
republican, in fact, somewhat extreme, a position that 
was undoubtedly encouraged and strengthened by his 



14 ROBERT FULTON AND THE SUBMARINE 

mentor, Barlow, who we have seen was a candidate for 
the celebrated Convention of 1793. This same leaning 
very likely influenced his remaining in France, rather 
than undertaking his contemplated return to his native 
land, because at this period his political ideals seemed 
more probable of realization in the former than in the 
latter country. 



Chapter II 

EAELY ATTEMPTS AT SUB-SURFACE 
NAVIGATION 

Fulton's first efforts for mechanical navigation. Some early sub- 
marines: Bourne, Van Drebbel, Mercenne, de Son, Wilkins, Bushnell. 

While Fulton was taking out patents for his little 
canals — patents that never had either practical or 
profitable application — and endeavoring to earn a live- 
lihood through the introduction of some of his methods 
of canal construction, there was germinating in his mind 
the great principle of mechanical propulsion on water 
that was eventually to win for him both fame and a 
competence. 

The seeds had found lodgment some years previously. 
Dickenson shows that in 1793, or about the time when 
he retired from his art career, Fulton wrote a letter to 
the Earl of Stanhope stating that he had a project for 
moving boats by steam. This was a subject in which 
Stanhope took particular interest, being an inventor 
and a great student of applied science, and especially 
as he at that same time was working on a design of 
his own for a steamboat. Lord Stanhope requested 
Fulton to present his plan in detail. The original letter 
and accompanying sketches, dated November 4th, 1793, 
are still in the possession of the Stanhope family. 

The idea of propelling boats by steam was not new. 
Jonathan Hulls had published a pamphlet in 1737 en- 
titled, " A Description and Draught of a New Invented 
Machine for Carrying Vessels Out of or Into Any 
Harbour, Port or River, Against Wind or Tide or in 

15 



16 ROBERT FULTON AND THE SUBMARINE 

a Calm." This pamphlet is of great rarity, and the 
plate it contains, being the first pictorial representation 
of a boat propelled by the force of steam, merits repro- 
duction. But in Fulton's own country practical results 
had already been achieved. James Rumsey had actually 
moved a vessel by steam on the Potomac in 1785-88, 
and in 1788 and 1790 took out British patents. In 
February, 1793, Eumsey ran a steamboat on the Thames. 
Equally important was the work of John Fitch, who also 
constructed a boat operated by a steam engine and actu- 
ally conveyed passengers on a regular schedule on the 
Delaware River in 1790. Fitch, like his rival inventor 
Rumsey, went to Europe further to develop his 
ideas and, in 1791, took out a French patent. All these 
experiments were, of course, known to Fulton and it is 
not impossible that they gave him his first suggestion. 
For the moment we are not interested in the develop- 
ment of steam navigation. However fascinating the 
story of how Fulton gradually developed a better engine 
than his predecessors and contemporary experimenters 
had succeeded in doing, and one that was completely 
practical, it is not to be repeated here. Our story is 
concerned with his work on submarines, but before 
leaving the subject of steamboats, it is convenient to 
recall that the fortuitous appointment of Robert R. 
Livingston (1746-1813), the famous Chancellor of the 
State of New York, as American Minister to France in 
1801 brought to Fulton his ultimate means of success 
through the partnership that the two men established. 
Chancellor Livingston, like Fulton's other friend, Lord 
Stanhope, was interested in philosophical subjects and 
had turned his attention to the possibility of steam 
navigation as early as 1798. Therefore, his arrival in 
France in 1801, when Fulton was struggling with the 
mechanical problems, was most opportune for Fulton 
and the art of mechanical propulsion. Though Fulton 



SUB-SURFACE NAVIGATION 17 

even then had almost reached the solution of the en- 
gineering difficulties, he was without the necessary funds 
to put his ideas in concrete form. These funds Living- 
ston supplied, and, what to a man of Fulton's tempera- 
ment was almost as valuable, personal encouragement and 
guidance. It is not too much to assert that the early- 
realization of the application of steam to navigation was 
due to Livingston's acceptance of the post of Minister 
to France, thus bringing the two men together. 

While Fulton was studying and experimenting with 
mechanical propulsion of boats on the surface of the 
water, it was but natural that he should take under con- 
sideration the possibility of constructing a boat that 
could be sunk and raised at will and move under water. 
This basal principle was far from being novel. From 
the earliest times man has not been content to remain 
only a land animal. As far back as records go, he has 
had the ambition to emulate the birds, and certainly 
during the Roman period he began to think of sharing 
with fishes the power to explore the depths of the sea. 

Perhaps William Bourne was the first writer on 
submarine vessel design. In his little quarto volume 
published in 1573, and entitled, " Inuentions or Deuises 
very necessary for all Generalles and Captaines, or 
Leaders of Men, as well by Sea as by Land," he de- 
scribes as the " 18 Deuise," " a Ship or a Boate that may 
goe vnder the water vnto the bottome, and so to come 
vp againe at your pleasure." Recognizing that the 
variation in displacement of a vessel whose weight re- 
mains constant adds to or detracts from its buoyancy, 
he suggested a vessel with sides that could be distended 
or contracted at will by screws, thus permitting her to 
sink and rise. These distendable sides, he thought, 
might be made of leather. For ventilation when sub- 
merged, he would have a hollow mast, taking care that 
the depth of water in which the boat should plunge 



18 ROBERT FULTON AND THE SUBMARINE 

would never exceed the height of the mast. He did not 
propose any means of propulsion. 

Van Drebbel, a Dutch engineer, born in Holland in 
1572, made actual application of Bourne's ideas, and 
constructed a submersible boat in 1624. He tested it 
in 15 feet of water in the Thames at London, during one 
of which tests it is reported that he had King James I. 
as a passenger. Apparently he attempted propulsion 
by means of oars that passed through the boat's sides, 
the apertures being covered by leather pockets attached 
to oars and boat. What plan he had for keeping the 
boat's air respirable when submerged is not clear, though 
there are some fantastic but not authenticated claims 
that he used a chemical compound for refreshing it. 
If he really plunged, which is by no means certain, it 
was probably for only a few minutes at a time. 

In 1634, the same year in which Van Drebbel died in 
London, there was published a book entitled, " Hy- 
draulica Pneumatica," containing a chapter " De 
nauibus sub aqua natantibus." This interesting work 
was written by a noted French theologian and philoso- 
pher, Marin Mercenne (1588-1648), a member of the 
order of Minimes Fathers. As was frequently done at 
that period in the case of technical treatises, Father 
Mersenne wrote his book in Latin, and gave his name 
the latinized form of Mercennus. He describes Dreb- 
beFs boat, but credits Bourne with having first proposed 
the principles that Drebbel used, and recalled that 
Bourne had suggested the possibility of getting fresh 
air through tubes reaching to the surface. Mercenne 's 
contribution to the art was his stated belief that the 
compass would be equally efficient beneath as well as 
on the surface. 

In 1653, a French engineer, de Son, constructed in 
Holland a curious boat, 72 feet long, propelled by a hand- 
driven wheel. This boat was hardly a submarine as it 



SUB-SURFACE NAVIGATION 19 

was not expected to submerge completely. It is inter- 
esting as the first application of a mechanical motive 
force other than oars and the first suggestion of a paddle 
wheel. It, therefore, marked a great step forward in 
matters of design. A translation of de Son's modest 
description of this boat as shown on the bottom of the 
design is as follows: 

Accurate Representation of the New Wonderful Ship 
Made at Rotterdam. 

As Mods. Duson has been greatly disappointed at the present- 
ment of his ship, which was in all ways greatly misrepresented, 
both as regards the rudder, the paddle wheel, and the whole 
disposition of the vessel when published at Amsterdam, we 
think it useful to give an exact representation of the ship (as 
above depicted) and the reader will at once see the difference. 
The Inventor will undertake to destroy with the ship in one 
day a fleet of a hundred vessels. No fire, no cannon ball or 
rocket, no storm or waves can hinder him unless God the Lord 
should intend to do so. Even if the ships which lie in the 
harbors consider themselves safe, he will run them to the 
bottom and turn around just as easily as a bird in the sky so 
that no one can hurt him, and should his ship be taken by 
treason, for otherwise it is quite impossible, it could not be 
governed by any one else but him. He will be able to make 
in one hour at least ten miles, and should he run on a bank 
his vessel will swim as light on the water as a light sloop 
would do. He believes he will be able to go with this vessel 
in ten weeks to and from the East Indies, and in one day to 
and from France, so that it may be called the greatest wonder 
of the world. 

The next contributor was an Englishman, John 
Wilkins, Bishop of Chester. Wilkins was an exceed- 
ingly interesting character and deserves to be remem- 
bered not only for what he did to advance the art of 
submarine design, but for what he was and what he 
accomplished in many ways. His life is set forth in 
considerable detail in the preface of the fifth edition of 
his principal scientific production, " Mathematical 



20 ROBERT FULTON AND THE SUBMARINE 

Magick: or the Wonders that may be perform 'd by 
Mechanical Geometry," this particular edition being 
published posthumously in 1707. 

From this sketch it appears that he was born in 1614. 
It is stated that at school his proficiency was such that 
he entered New Inn, Oxford, when 13 years old. After 
graduation, not at New Inn but at Magdalen Hall, he 
took orders and served as Chaplain, first to Lord Say 
and then to Charles, Count Palatine of the Rhine. On 
the outbreak of the English civil war, he joined the 
parliamentary party. In 1648, he received the degree 
of Doctor of Divinity, and in 1656, married the sister 
of Oliver Cromwell, then Lord Protector. Soon after 
he was appointed head of Trinity College, Cambridge. 
Charles II, on his restoration to power, removed Dr. 
Wilkins from his position at Cambridge, though subse- 
quently gave him preferment, first, by making him Dean 
of Ripon, and soon after, Bishop of Chester. Appar- 
ently Wilkins had made it clear to the royalist party 
that he could serve quite as well under their standard 
as under that of his late brother-in-law. 

In the short interim while out of royal favor he re- 
sided in London, where he was elected to the Royal So- 
ciety and a member of its Council. It will thus be seen 
that Wilkins was no narrow-minded person. He could 
adapt himself to whatever political party was in power, 
and apparently he could do equally well as an educator, 
theologian and man of science. At any rate, of his 
varied abilities, his excellence in these three was recog- 
nized by his contemporaries who conferred on him the 
highest honors in each of the three fields. He did not 
however restrict himself to those labors, but was also an 
author of no small productivity. Among his writings are : 

1. "The Discovery of a New World; or, a Discourse tending 
to prove that ('tis probable) there may be another Habitable 
World in the Moon." 1638. 



SUB-SURFACE NAVIGATION 21 

2. " Discourse concerning the Possibility of a Passage to the 
World in the Moon." 1638. 

3. "Discourse concerning a New Planet; tending to prove, 
that ('tis probable) our Earth is one of the Planets." 1640. 

4. " Mercury; the Secret Messenger: Shewing how a Man 
may with Privacy and Speed communicate his thouhts to 
his friend at any Distance." 1641. 

5. "Mathematical Magick; or, The Wonders that may be 
performed by Mechanical Geometry." 1648. 

6. " An Essay towards a Real Character, and a Philosophical 
Language" including, "An Alphabetical Dictionary." 1668. 

7. Several works on theological subjects. 

The above books seem to have won popular approval 
because they appear in several editions. Bishop Wilkins 
died in 1672 after a life full of strenuosity, variety and 
action. 

It is with Ms scientific publication standing fifth in 
the above list that we are specially interested. This 
little book, which treats of a great number of mechanical 
devices and principles such as wheels, pulleys, screws, 
engines of war, clocks and other similar machines, con- 
tains two chapters, one entitled, " Concerning the Art 
of Flying. The several ways whereby this hath been, 
or may be attempted " ; and the other, " Concerning 
the Possibility of framing an Ark for Submarine Navi- 
gation. The Difficulties and Conveniences of such a 
Contrivance." The latter chapter is the one that bears 
on our present discussion. 

Although Wilkins gives credit to Mercennus, who as 
he puts it, " doth so largely and pleasantly descant upon 
the making of a ship wherein men may safely swim 
under the Water," nevertheless he follows the line of 
thought of Bourne without giving him credit. He 
closely imitated Bourne's scheme of leather attachments. 
He suggested leather bags open at both ends, one end 
being without and the other within the ship, the ends 
capable of being closed like those of a purse. These 



22 ROBERT FULTON AND THE SUBMARINE 

bags lie would use as means of ingress and egress for 
men and materials. Motion lie proposed to obtain by 
means of oars whose blades would be collapsible on the 
back stroke, the oars projecting through the ship's sides, 
the holes being closed with leather attached to the oars 
and vessel. Wilkins had in mind the use of such a 
vessel in attack against a " Navy of Enemies, who by 
this means may be undermined in the water and 
blown up." 

The submersible power Wilkins would obtain by hav- 
ing his boat or " Ark " ballasted so as to be of " equal 
weight with the like magnitude of water," that is, to be 
at the critical point between floating and sinking, obvi- 
ously one of greatest danger. He fancied that he could 
then obtain vertical motion or plunging by attaching a 
great weight to the bottom of the ship, to be computed, 
of course, as part of the ballast. If the weight were 
lowered by means of a cord, so would the boat ascend, 
and if the weight were raised, it would descend. The 
method of supplying air to the submerged crew was 
equally amusing. He depended upon the ability of men 
to live in a polluted atmosphere by continued practice, 
or if that were found impossible, the air might be puri- 
fied by what he calls " refrigeration," that is, by heat- 
ing it by lamps and allowing it to cool on coming in 
contact with the sides of the vessel, the process being 
assisted by bellows. It is hoped that the theology of 
the undoubtedly worthy bishop was sounder than his 
science, and that it emulated rather the particularly high 
scale of wisdom of his political adaptability. But no 
matter how ridiculous his details, he, nevertheless, left 
the main idea more firmly implanted in men's minds. 

The above references are not a complete resume of 
the early development of the underlying principles of 
the art of submarine navigation. They are nothing 
more than a brief recital of the salient and outstanding 



SUB-SURFACE NAVIGATION 23 

features that mark the path of progress like milestones 
along a road. 

With these and other similar impracticable concep- 
tions, the art of submarine construction was found by 
an American, David Bushnell, born at Saybrook, Con- 
necticut, in 1742, and graduated from Yale in 1775. In 
the war with Great Britain, which broke out shortly 
after his graduation, Bushnell conceived the idea of 
attacking the enemy's ships under water and there is no 
doubt that he constructed a boat embodying among other 
novel devices a screw propeller. His boat, a small affair 
carrying but a single operator, was scarcely a submarine 
as it was not intended to plunge, but to float just 
" awash " or almost submerged. Like Rumsey and 
Fitch, Bushnell went abroad and, as Fulton did later, 
opened negotiations with the French Government. 
Delpeuch says, " Then (1797) there appeared an en- 
gineer who offered to the Directory a means quite as 
terrible as it was invisible to force the British to lift 
their blockade, and not only did this man undertake to 
drive the enemy from our shores, but he even proposed 
to carry the war to the shores and ports of Great Britain, 
heretofore inviolable. ' ' 

Fulton undoubtedly became acquainted with Bushnell 
during the time they were both in France engaged in 
similar pursuits. But the failure to accomplish results 
or to get his ideas adopted by others disappointed Bush- 
nell so keenly that he returned to his native country, 
went to Georgia, adopted the name of Bush, and began 
the practice of medicine. He died in 1826, at the age 
of 84, when his will disclosed his identity. 



Chapter III 
FULTON'S FIRST SUBMARINE 

Fulton begins work on a submarine (1797). Nautilus launched at 
Rouen (1800). Havre experiments. Fulton aided by Monge and 
Laplace. Received in audience by Napoleon Bonaparte. Hopes 
and disappointments. 

The previous chapter shows that not only was the 
principle of a submarine boat not novel when Fulton 
began his work on it, but that according to the record 
a competitor was actually in France urging upon the 
French Government the adoption of a design that, "un- 
like the fantastic conceptions of Bourne and Drebbel, 
was capable of being moved by an invisible power and 
of making an attack beneath the surface. But if Fulton 
lacked initial originality he achieved practical success 
in his subsequent labors by greatly improving the plans 
of his predecessors, as he later did in the case of the 
steamboat. 

At first his work on a design for a submarine was 
merely incidental and secondary to his more cherished 
ambition to become a great constructor of canals. It 
was soon after his arrival in France that the idea 
of an underwater boat occurred to him, and this sev- 
eral years before mechanical operation of boats ob- 
tained the supremacy in his mind over small canals. 
His first move was apparently on the 24 Frimaire an VI 
(13 December, 1797) when he wrote to the Directory, 
" having in view the great importance of lessening the 
power of the English fleet, that he had a project for the 
construction of a mechanical Nautilus." It is interest- 
ing to note that this letter was written but six months 

24 



FULTON'S FIRST SUBMARINE 25 

after his arrival in France, and in the same year that 
Delpeuch records Bushnell as having laid his own plan 
before the Directory. It is difficult to repress the 
thought that the latter 's efforts roused Fulton to action, 
even if they did not suggest to him the initial thought. 

On the 2nd January, 1798, Fulton made definite pro- 
posals to the Minister of Marine, among the terms being 
a request that rank in the French navy be conferred 
at least on him, if not on all the members of the crews 
of the submarines, because otherwise he feared the 
British would treat him as a pirate. On February 12, 
1798, Fulton was informed that his proposals had been 
declined. 

Unlike Bushnell, who under similar circumstances 
went home discouraged and hid himself under an assumed 
name, Fulton prepared to renew the attack. Waiting 
until another Minister of Marine had been appointed, 
he submitted new proposals, under date of 5 Thermidor 
an VI (23 July 1798), concluding the offer by pointing 
out that the destruction of the English navy would as- 
sure the freedom of the seas and the nation which had 
the most natural resources — France — would alone 
hold, and without rival, the balance of power in Europe. 
The Minister convened a board of technical men to whom 
Fulton submitted his plans for a submarine that he 
called the " Nautilus.' ' This boat had the shape of an 
imperfect ellipsoid, with an over-all length of 6m. 48 
(21 ft. 3 in.) and extreme beam 1 m. 94 (6 ft. 4 in.). 
Beneath the ellipsoid there was a hollow iron keel m. 52 
(1 ft. 8 in.) in height, running to within 1 m. from the 
bow. The keel contained a quantity of ballast so that 
the difference between the weight of the flotation and 
that of the water displaced by it should be only about 
4 to 5 kilograms. The only communication with the in- 
terior of the keel lay in the two parts of a suction and 
force pump which by means of a hand crank would 



26 ROBERT FULTON AND THE SUBMARINE 

permit the introduction into or removal of water from 
the metal keel at will. The excess in buoyancy of the 
Nautilus being small, the introduction of only a little 
water would make it sink, and conversely, the expulsion 
of a small quantity would cause it to return to the sur- 
face. On the forward and top part of the Nautilus there 
was a spherical dome pierced with port holes covered by 
thick glass for observation and a man-hole that served 
as means of ingress and egress for the crew. 

For propulsion, Fulton proposed a screw as Bushnell 
had already done, a principle that was not to be adopted 
in general practice until nearly half a century later in 
spite of its many and great advantages over side wheelsa 
The screw was placed at the stern and directly ahead of 
the rudder and was operated by a hand crank and gear- 
ing turning a shaft passing through a stuffing box. 
The crank was to be turned by man power only. Plung- 
ing was to be secured by pumping water into the keel, 
while submersion at a given depth, provided the boat 
was in motion, was to be attempted by means of two 
inclined planes attached to the sides of the steering 
rudder. The angle of these planes could be altered from 
within, thus giving an upward or downward direction 
to the boat. Motion on the surface he thought to obtain 
by a fan-shaped sail which, with the supporting mast, 
could be folded down to the deck and then, preparatory 
to submersion, covered with envelopes like the wings of 
a fly. Fulton estimated that he could work the boat 
with a crew of three men. 

The offensive feature of the design consisted first of 
a vertical spike attached to the top of the observer's 
dome. In the spike was an eye through which passed 
a cord leading through a stuffing box to a winding spool 
in the forward end of the boat. The second part was 
a torpedo attached to the other end of the cord. In 
action the Nautilus would be placed directly beneath 



M^ 



— 




§-- 






$§vjk<S*N>i^SQ;Qi 



FULTON'S FIRST SUBMARINE 27 

the hull of an enemy vessel, the spike being in contact 
with the bottom planking. As one end of the spike pro- 
jected into the observer's dome, a blow on that end 
would drive the upper end, which was sharp and detach- 
able, into the ship's timbers. Then the Nautilus was 
to move forward leaving the spike sticking in the ship. 
As she moved forward, the torpedo would trail behind, 
but as the cord passed through the eye in the spike, the 
torpedo would soon be brought into contact with the 
hull, when the shock would fire the discharge. In the 
meanwhile, enough cord would have been paid out to 
permit the Nautilus to have attained a safe distance. 

The Commission to whom the design was submitted 
found in its favor, except as to the sail arrangement, 
which they pointed out had the larger part of its area too 
far aloft, and that consequently the boat would lack 
stability under a strong wind. A translation of the Com- 
mission's conclusion is as follows: 

The Minister of the Marine and Colonies is therefore requested 
to give to Citizen Fulton the authorization and necessary means 
to construct the machine of which he has submitted a model. 
There is no doubt that with the same wisdom that has been put 
into its conception, and the refinement and solidity of the various 
mechanisms comprising the whole, that he who has supervised 
the execution of this interesting model will be able to construct 
the full sized machine in a manner equally ingenious and that the 
new ideas that he will have obtained from study and experience 
will but lead to its perfecting. 

Though the design of the Nautilus fell far short of 
that of a modern submarine, nevertheless, it was so far 
ahead of anything previously accomplished or sug- 
gested that it entitles Fulton to be credited with being 
the first to propose a type of vessel capable of plunging 
and being navigated beneath the surface of the water. 
That his plans gave promise of this accomplishment 
was recognized by the examining commission in their 



28 ROBERT FULTON AND THE SUBMARINE 

report, a report that gave Fulton great encouragement 
for further action. Delpeuch in his book on submarines 
states that in consequence of this favorable official 
approval : 

Fulton submitted to the Minister on the 27 Vendemiaire 
an VI (October 17, 1798) a new project of the Company which 
was similar to those previously proposed except in the following 
articles: 

1. That the Government should pay immediately on the 
receipt of news of the destruction of an English ship of the 
line, 500,000 francs, with which sum he engaged to build a 
squadron of 10 Nautilus to be used against the English fleets. 

2. That the Government was to pay him or his assigns the 
sum of 100 francs for each pound of calibre of the guns of 
English ships destroyed or put out of action by the Nautilus 
during the war, that is to say, for a 5 pounder gun 500 francs, 
or for a 10 pounder, 1000 francs. 

In spite of the favorable report by the investigating 
Commission and of the financial terms offered by Fulton, 
which were certainly liberal as they were entirely con- 
tingent on success, Fulton's proposals were again 
rejected. 

He then went to Holland, but obtained no more en- 
couragement from the Dutch Government than from the 
French. Hearing that Bonaparte had been named First 
Consul, he hurriedly returned to Paris. On the 13 
Vendemiaire, an XI (October 6, 1800), he wrote to the 
Minister of Marine again proposing the consideration 
of the Nautilus. Attached to this letter was a memorial 
entitled, " Observations sur les Effets Moreaux du 
Nautile." This memorial was written in French, and 
is preserved in the Archives Nationales and is quoted 
at length by E. L. Pesce in " Navigation Sous-Mar ine." 
The plaint as to delay with which he began he re- 
peated in varying form until finally in 1806, he aban- 
doned all European negotiations and returned to 
America. The portion of the memorial that gives his 



FULTON'S FIRST SUBMARINE 29 

political reasoning is at the present time the most in- 
teresting, especially as the German Admiralty held 
almost precisely the same views with respect to the effect 
that submarines would have on the British Empire 
during the recent war. Fulton's severe restrictions on 
the British navy and his lauding of the submarine as 
an instrument for true " liberty and peace " sound much 
like communiques emanating from Berlin during 1914r- 
1918. As we will see, Fulton recognized later that his 
description of the criminal character of the British was 
at least inaccurate when in very similar language he 
pointed out how it could and should destroy the naval 
power of France. 

The Memorial reads in part as follows : * 

Citizen Minister 

It is now twenty months since I presented for the first time 
the plan for my Nautilus to ex-Director La Reveillere Lepaux. 
He presented it to the Directory who ordered that it be for- 
warded to Minister of Marine Pleville, and finally it was turned 
down after five months of discussion. 

Taken up again under the administration of Citizen Bruix, 
it had the same fate after about four months of waiting. A 
reception so little favorable on the part of the first magistrates 
of France, whose duty it is to encourage discoveries tending 
to spread liberty and to establish harmony among nations, 

1 Citoyen Ministre 

II y a maintenant vingt mois que je presentai pour la premiere fois le plan 
de mon Nautile a l'Ex-Directeur La Reveillere Lepaux; il le presenta au 
Directoire qui eu ordonna le renvoi au Ministre de la Marine Pleville, et enfin 
il fut rejete apres cinq mois de discussions. Reproduit sous Tadministration 
du citoyen Bruix, il eut le meme sort apres environ quatre mois d'attente, un 
accueil si peu favorable de la part des premiers magistrats de la France, dont le 
devoir est d'encourager les decouvertes tendantes a, propager la Liberte et a 
etablir Pharmonie entre les nations, me prouve qu'ils s'etaient fait une idee 
fausee des effets tant phisiques que moraux de cette Machine. 



Voyons d'abord quels seraient pour la France les effets imm6diats du 
Nautile. La perte du premier Batiment anglais qui serait detruit par un 
moyen extraordinaire, jeterroit le Gouvernement Britannique dans le dernier 



30 ROBERT FULTON AND THE SUBMARINE 

proves to me that it was considered with a false idea of the 
physical as well as the moral effects of this machine. 



Let us see first what would be for France the immediate 
effects of the Nautilus. The loss of the first English ship 
destroyed by extraordinary means would throw the English 
Government into utter embarrassment. It would realize that 
its whole navy could be destroyed by the same means, and by 
the same means it would be possible to blockade the Thames 
and to cut off the whole commerce of London. Under such 
circumstances what would the consternation be in England? 
How would Pitt then be able to support the allied powers? 
The result would be that deprived of Pitt's guineas, the coali- 
tion would vanish and France thus delivered from its numerous 
enemies would be able to work without obstacle for the 
strengthening of its liberty and for peace. 



After having thus shown the happy effects that would follow 
immediately a success by the Nautilus, I pass to the objec- 
tions, quite as commonplace as they are lacking in philosophy, 
that have been raised against this machine. I will show below 



embarras; il sentiroit que par le meme moyen on pourroit detruire toute sa 
marine; que par le meme moyen il seroit possible de bloquer la Tamise et de 
couper tout le commerce de Londres. Quelle seroit, dans de pareilles cir- 
constances, la consternation de l'Angleterre? Comment Pitt soudoyeroit-il alors 
les puissances coalisees? It en resulteroit que, privee des guinees de Pitt, la 
Coalition s'evanouiroit, et que la France, ainsi delivree de ses nombreux en- 
nemis, pourrait travailler sans obstacle a Faffermissem 1 de sa liberte et a la paix. 



Apres avoir ainsi montre les heureux effets qui resulteroient immediatement 
du succes du Nautile, je passe aux objections aussi vulgaires que peu philoso- 
phiques, elevees contre cette machine. Je ferai voir ensuite comment le Nautile 
peut contribuer a, propager la veritable Liberte et a etablir l'harmonie entre 
les peuples. 

La premiere objection est que si la France se servoit du Nautile contre 
l'Angleterre, l'Angleterre pourroit egalement eu faire usage contre la France; 
mais il ne me paroit nullement vraisemblable que les Anglais s'en servent contre 



FULTON'S FIRST SUBMARINE 31 

how the Nautilus can further real liberty and establish harmony 
among peoples. 

The first objection is that if France should make use of the 
Nautilus against England, England would be equally able to 
make use of it against France. But it does not seem to me 
any way likely that the English would make use of it against 
France because before they could become acquainted with the 
mechanism, France would be able to blockade the Thames and 
cut off commerce from London and thus reduce the cabinet of 
St. James to terms of the most complete submission. 



la France, car avant qu'ils en connussent la mecanique, la France pourroit, 
comme je Pai dit, bloquer la Tamise, couper le commerce de Londres et reduire 
par la le cabinet de St. James aux termes de la plus entiere soumission; 



C'est la force navale de PAngleterre qui est la source des horreurs incalcu- 
lables qui se commettent journellement; c'est la marine anglaise qui soutient le 
gouvernement anglais, et c'est ce gouvernement qui, par ces intrigues, a ete la 
cause des deux tiers des crimes qui ont signale le cours de la revolution. 



Si par le moyen du Nautile on reussissoit a detruire la marine anglaise, on 
pourroit, avec une flotte de Nautiles, bloquer la Tamise, jusqu'a ce que 
PAngleterre fut republicanisee ; bientot PIrelande secoueroit le joug et la 
monarchie anglaise seroit aneantie. Une nation riche et industrieuse viendroit 
ainsi augumenter le nombre des republiques de PEurope, et ce seroit avoir fait 
un pas immense vers la liberte et la paix universelle. 

Si PAngleterre adoptait le gouvernement republicain, je ne doute pas que la 
France et elle n'ensevelissent dans Poubli ces vieilles haines et cette fatale 
rivalite fomentees par la stupide aristocratic Les deux Republiques se traite- 
roient en soeurs, donneroient a leur commerce respectif une entiere liberte et, 
dans ce cas, n'auroient besoin, ni Pune ni Pautre de marine militaire; ainsi 
Pamitie, malgre le prejuge vulgaire, uniroit deux grands peuples, et Phumanite 
respireroit. 

De legeres circonstances produisent souvent de grands changemens dans les 
operations des hommes. La Boussole a donne au commerce une extension sans 
bornes et a multiplie les lumieres; Pinvention de la poudre a change tout Part 
de la guerre, sans en dimineur les horreurs. J'espere que le Nautile non seule- 
ment detruira les marines militaires, mais en brisant ces instrumens destructeurs 
dans les mains de Paristocratie, servira la cause de la liberte et de la paix. 
Je vous ai presente ici, d'une maniere claire et impartiale une partie de ses 
heureux effets, et je suis loin de me faire aucun merite de Pavoir imagine le 
premier. L'idee pouvoit en venir a tout autre ingenieur qui cherche avec 
autant d'ardeur que moi a faire triompher la cause de Phumanite. 



32 ROBERT FULTON AND THE SUBMARINE 

It is the naval force of England that is the source of all the 
incalculable horrors that are committed daily. It is the 
English navy which supports the English Government, and it 
is that Government which by its intrigues has been the cause 
of two-thirds of the crimes that have marked the course of 
the revolution. 



If by means of the Nautilus one could succeed in destroying 
the English navy, it would be possible with a fleet of Nautilus 
to blockade the Thames to the end that England would become 
a republic. Soon Ireland would throw off the yoke and the 
English monarchy would be wiped out. A rich and industrious 
nation would then increase the number of republics of Europe 
and this would be a long step toward liberty and universal 
peace. 

If England should adopt a republican government, I do not 
doubt that France and she would bury in oblivion the old hates 
and that fatal rivalry fomented by the stupid aristocracy, and 
the two republics would treat each other as sisters and would 
give to their respective commerce complete freedom, and in 
this case neither one nor the other would have need of a mili- 
tary marine. Then friendship in spite of common opinion 
would unite these two great peoples and humanity would 
breathe freely. 

Small circumstances often produce changes in the affairs of 
men. The mariners' compass has given to commerce an ex- 
tension without limits and has multiplied its knowledge. The 
invention of gunpowder has changed the whole art of war 
without diminishing its horrors. I hope that the Nautilus will 
not only destroy military marines, but in breaking these de- 
structive instruments in the hands of the aristocracy will serve 
the cause of liberty and peace. 

I have laid before you in a clear and impartial manner a 
part of its happy effects and I am far from assuming any merit 
of having imagined the first thought. The idea could have 
come to any other engineer seeking with the same ardor that 
I have to make the cause of humanity triumph. 

At last success seemed to be in sight. Official lethargy 
and resistance were overcome and permission was given 



FULTON'S FIRST SUBMARINE 33 

Fulton to build a Nautilus at Rouen, which he at once 
commenced doing in the boat yard of the firm of Perrier. 
From his model he made one important change, the 
addition of a deck about 6 feet wide and 20 feet long, 
enabling the crew to come out of the hull when not 
submerged. 

On July 24, 1800, the Nautilus was launched, and on 
July 29, she made her first plunge in 25 feet of water. 
The first submersion lasted 5 minutes, and the second, 
17 minutes, the personnel consisting of Fulton and two 
companions. The swift river current interfered with 
the manipulation of the boat to such an extent that 
Fulton decided to make further tests in still, open water 
at Havre. 

Under date of 19th November, 1800, he wrote a long 
letter to Messrs. Monge and Laplace giving an account 
of results obtained. These gentlemen appear to have 
been his loyal and enthusiastic friends through all his 
efforts. When others failed, or his propositions were 
refused by the authorities, they continued to support 
him, and were always ready to undertake to obtain a 
new hearing. 

Gaspard Monge, born 1746, died 1818, was a well- 
known mathematician, particularly celebrated in the 
field of descriptive geometry. He was an ardent revo- 
lutionist, serving as Minister of Marine during 1792-3. 
When Bonaparte came into power, Monge espoused his 
cause and accompanied him to Italy. 

Pierre Simon Laplace, afterward Marquis de Laplace, 
was even more illustrious, being a mathematician and 
astronomer of the highest distinction. His " Mecanique 
Celeste " whose exposition of the nebular hypothesis 
gives it permanent rank among the masterpieces of 
scientific reasoning, secured for its author the proud 
position of President of the French Academy. Like 
Monge he was a republican, and allied himself to Bona- 



34 ROBERT FULTON AND THE SUBMARINE 

parte immediately on the latter becoming First Consul, 
although in 1814, he voted for Napoleon's dethrone- 
ment. At the time Fulton could have found no better 
supporters than these two men of science, especially as 
both enjoyed the personal friendship of Bonaparte. 

From the above mentioned letter it appears that while 
at Havre he carried the same crew as at Rouen, he now 
had a lighted candle. On his early experiment he plunged 
in darkness fearful that a light might seriously vitiate 
the air. He now remained submerged in one test 
six hours without inconvenience, during which time he 
obtained some air through a tube with the open end 
supported by a surface float that could not be seen 
at a distance of 200 fathoms. While trying relative 
speeds produced by two men rowing as against two men 
working the screw, the former made the boat cover 60 
fathoms in 7 minutes, while the latter propelled it the 
same distance in 4 minutes. He reported that the 
Archimedes screw and the horizontal rudder for depth 
control did not satisfy him in point of efficiency. The 
Bushnell screw was literally a full screw with several 
turns as proposed by Archimedes twenty centuries 
earlier to raise water. When Fulton found that a full 
screw was not efficient, he proposed to replace it with 
separate blades set at an angle similar to the sails of 
a windmill. To this arrangement he gave the name of 
" Flier.' ' The error of trying to use a full screw in 
propeller design persisted for more than forty years after 
Fulton had appreciated the lack of efficiency. Other 
engineers for nearly two generations ignored Fulton's 
experience and decision. 

He then returned to Paris and elated by the success 
of his experiments, which certainly justified elation, he 
again drew up new proposals in which he offered to 
accept whatever remuneration the government would 
give, so great was his confidence. These proposals his 



FULTON'S FIRST SUBMARINE 35 

friend Monge laid before the First Consul with whom 
Monge was on terms of intimacy and whose interest 
Fulton had so long desired to obtain. The First Consul 
forwarded Fulton's letter to the Minister of Marine on 
27 November, 1800, with the following marginal note: 

Je prie le Ministre de la Marine de me faire connaitre ce 
qu'il sait sur les projets du capitaine Fulton. 

Bonaparte. 

A few days later Monge and Laplace presented Fulton 
to Napoleon Bonaparte, First Consul, urging the latter 
to make an allowance of 60,000 francs for further 
experiments. 

What a dramatic moment when the two men of science 
presented the young American to the still younger 
Frenchman! A moment heavy with destiny, because 
the fates of nations were trembling in the balance, await- 
ing the decision. But no one of the four understood the 
importance of the conference, not even he who had most 
at stake. The central figure was the young Corsican 
artillery officer whose guns had swept the remnants of 
the French Revolution from the streets of Paris only 
five years before, then a man almost unknown, but now 
First Consul and Dictator of France. The successes of 
Lodi, the Pyramids and Marengo were still fresh in his 
mind and were beckoning him on to other conquests. 
Almost within his grasp was the crown of empire, plans 
to seize which he was even then maturing. In his eyes 
there stretched before him a path through conquest and 
glory, — but leading where ! As he then saw the path 
in his imagination it led to absolute world domination 
with the great and little powers of Europe vassals of 
France. 

The beginning of the path as he saw it with all its 
magnificence he had already found. It lay over the 
glittering heights of Austerlitz, Jena, Friedland and 



36 ROBERT FULTON AND THE SUBMARINE 

Wagram. Across it there was only one obstacle to pre- 
vent his reaching the culmination of his ambition, and 
that obstacle was England's navy. Unless that could 
be removed, he would be forced to turn from the path 
over the heights and pass down into the valley of 
Borodino, Leipzig and Waterloo to the island prison of 
St. Helena. In boundless confidence in his destiny and 
in his own power to control it, he saw not the obstacle ; 
or if he did, there was no doubt in his mind that he 
himself could remove it. Already he was all powerful 
on land, and he dreamed of being all powerful on sea. 

It is not difficult to picture the dictator, supreme in 
his arrogance, facing the American, who was actually 
offering him the only chance there was to surmount the 
obstacle. Bonaparte had already learned who he was, 
a foreigner with few friends and no money, an unsuc- 
cessful artist in England, and an engineer in France 
without practise, a dreamer and inventor. Hardly the 
type of man to appeal to one who had already resolved 
to be an Emperor. 

With what means did this inventor propose to attack 
those great masses of oak with their towering sides, with 
row on row of guns and great spreads of canvas? A 
tiny boat propelled by two men by hand, that would 
meet the enemy, not as Bonaparte would meet him by 
an attack in force, but by stealth, unseen and beneath 
the surface of the sea! As Bonaparte looked at his 
visitor he could not see the valley of Waterloo and St. 
Helena. Nor could he possibly imagine that long before 
that fateful June day of 1815, when the silence of the guns 
on the slope of Mt. St. Jean would mark the end of 
his career, the man who had been rash enough to seek 
the audience would have given to the world a vessel 
whose motive power would defy that of wind and that 
he would have designed a ship of war more powerful than 
any ship that sailed under the command of Nelson. 



FULTON'S FIRST SUBMARINE 37 

The tiny boat that was offered him was far from being 
a perfected machine, but even as it was it presented 
sufficient potentiality to strike terror to England's navy 
as Fulton had prophesied in his Memorial. If Living- 
ston with such limited means as he possessed could de- 
velop Fulton's ideas into practical reality, how much 
sooner could the same result have been attained through 
the resources of a great government? 

Fulton offered to Bonaparte world dominion. 

Bonaparte listened and took the offer under con- 
sideration. 

While waiting Bonaparte's answer and apparently 
while Admiral Decres, Minister of Marine, still had the 
matter under investigation in accordance with Bona- 
parte's instructions, Fulton wrote the Minister under 
date of 3rd December, 1800, saying among other things : * 

You will permit me to observe that although I have the 
highest respect for you and the other members of the Govern- 
ment, and although I retain the most ardent desire to see the 
English Government beaten, nevertheless the cold and dis- 
couraging manner with which all my exertions have been treated 
during the past three years will compel me to abandon the 
enterprise in France if I am not received in a more friendly 
and liberal manner. 

It is interesting to note that this is the only letter in 
French that has been found in the government archives 
written wholly in the handwriting of Fulton himself. 
The other letters in the possession of the French Govern- 
ment that are written in French were written by his 
secretary and signed by him. 

Fulton's wise and diplomatic friends, Barlow, Monge 

1 Vous me permettrez d'observer, que quoique j'ai le plus haut respect 
pour vous et les autres membres du gouvernement, et quoique je conserve le 
plus ardent desir de voir abattre la marine Anglaise, cependant la maniere 
froide et decourageante dans laquelle toutes mes exertions ont ete traitees 
depuis trois ans, me forcent a abandonner l'enterprise en France, si on ne 
l'accueille pas d'une maniere plus amicale et liberate. 



38 ROBERT FULTON AND THE SUBMARINE 

and Laplace, must have been absent when the above tact- 
less lines were penned. That they were the actual hand- 
work of Fulton himself would seem to indicate that he 
was actuated by a momentary burst of impatience, and 
that in his haste to give vent to his feelings, he did not 
wait for his secretary to write the letter in French. 
What was in consequence almost inevitable, happened. 
Admiral Decres, as Minister of Marine, reported ad- 
versely on Fulton's plans. Fulton's letter, of course, had 
not served to overcome the settled objection of a sailor 
to mechanical innovation. 



Chapter IV 
NEGOTIATIONS WITH FRANCE 

Nautilus reconstructed and tested at Brest (1801). Reports to 
Monge, Laplace and Volney. Great expectations. Final rejection 
(1802). Partnership with Robert R. Livingston. Work begun on 
steamboat. British Admiralty aware of his submarine accomplish- 
ment. Induced to return to England (May, 1804). 

The always faithful Monge and Laplace came once 
more to the aid of their temperamental friend. They 
personally intervened with the First Consul, and actu- 
ally succeeded in persuading him to authorize the re- 
construction of the Nautilus in spite of the adverse 
professional opinion of the Minister. He appointed a 
new commission to investigate, naming MM. Monge, 
Laplace and Volney. The last, unlike the first two, was 
not a scientist. He was an, eminent scholar, a great 
traveller and member of the Institute. He had visited 
the United States five years previously and had written 
a book on its climate and soil. He narrowly escaped 
the guillotine, was created a count under the Empire, 
and a peer of France after the restoration. He died 
in 1820. 

With the encouragement induced by the naming of 
this friendly commission, Fulton at once began his task. 
The Nautilus was transported from Havre to Brest and 
there refitted with the alterations and improvements 
that occurred to Fulton as the result of the Havre ex- 
periments. On July 3rd, 1801, he made his first plunge 
at Brest in his improved boat. This time he was 
accompanied by three men instead of two as on the 
previous occasions. 

39 



40 ROBERT FULTON AND THE SUBMARINE 

An account of what he did at Brest is preserved in a 
manuscript copy of a report that he made to the com- 
missioners. This report was published by Mrs. Sutcliffe 
in her book on the " Clermont, " but it is so graphic 
that with Mrs. Sutcliffe's consent it is reprinted in full 
exactly as Fulton wrote it : 

Paris 22 d , fructidore An 9 

Robert Fulton to the citizens Monge, La Place and Volney, 
members of the National Institute, and Commissioners 
appointed by the first Consul to promote the invention of 
Submarine Navigation — 

Citizens, yesterday on my return from brest I received your 
note, and will with pleasure communicate to you the result of 
my experiments, during the summer, also the mode which I 
conceive the most effectual for using my invention against the 
enemy. Before I left Paris I informed you that my plunging 
boat had many imperfections, natural to the first machine of 
so difficult a combination, added to this I found she had been 
much injured by the rust during the winter in consequence 
of having in many places used Iron bolts and arbours instead 
of copper or brass, the reperation of those defects and the 
difficulty of finding workmen consumed near two months And 
although the machine remained still extremely imperfect yet 
she has answered to prove every necessary experiment In the 
most satisfactory manner. 

On the 3d of thermidor I commenced my experiments by 
plunging to the depth of 5 then 10 then 15 and so on to 25 
feet but not to a greater depth than 25 feet as I did not con- 
ceive the Machine Sufficiently Strong to bear the Pressure of 
a Greater column of water, At this depth I remained one hour 
with my three companions and two candles burning without 
experiancing the least inconvenience. 

Previous to my leaving Paris I gave to the Cn. Gueyton 
member of the Institute a calculation on the number of cube 
feet In my boat which is about 212 in Such a Volume of Air 
he calculated there would be sufficient Oxszine to nourish 4 
Men and two small candles 3 hours. Seeing that it would be 
of great Improvement to despence with the candles I have con- 
structed a Small window in the upper part of the Boat near 
the bow which window Is only one inch and a half diameter 



NEGOTIATIONS WITH FRANCE 41 

and of Glass 9 lines thick, with this prepared I descended on 
the 5th of thermidor to the depth of between 24 and 25 feet 
at which depth I had Suffecient light to count the minuets 
on the Watch, hence I conclude that 3 or 4 Such windows 
arranged in different parts of the boat would give suffecient 
light for any operation during the day each window may be 
Guarded by a Valve in Such a manner that Should the glass 
break the Valve would immediately Shut and Stop out the 
Water, finding that I had air and light Suffecient and that I 
could Plunge and Rise perpendicular with facility. On the 
7th Ther d I commenced the experiments on her movements 
At 10 in the Morning I raised her anchor And hoisted her 
Sails which are the Mainsail and Gib the breeze being light 
I could not at the Utmost make more than about two thirds 
of a league per hour. I tacked and retacked tryed her before 
and by the wind And in all these operations found her to 
Answer the helm And Act like a common dul Sailing boat, 
After exersising thus About An hour I lowered the mast and 
Sails and commenced the operation of Plunging this required 
about two Minuets. I then placed two men at the engine 
which gives the Rectileniar Motion, And one At the helm, 
while I governed the machine which keeps her ballanced be- 
tween two waters. With the bathomater before me And with 
one hand I found I could keep her at any depth I thought 
Proper the men then commenced movement and continued 
about 7 Minuets when mounting to the Serface I found we 
had gained 400 Matres. I again plunged turned her round 
under water and returned to near the Same place. I again 
plunged And tried her movements to the right and left, in all 
of which the helm answered And the compass acted the same 
as if on the serface of the Water having continued these ex- 
periments the 8, 9, 10 and 12th untill I became fameliar with 
the movements And confidence in their operation, I turned 
my thoughts to Increasing or preserving the Air, for this pur- 
pose the Cn. Gueyton advised to precipitate the carbonic acid 
with lime, or to take with me bottles of Oxizine which might 
be uncorked as need required; but as any considerable quantity 
of bottles would take up to much room, And as oxizine could 
not be created at Sea without a Chymical operation which 
would be Very Inconvenient, I adopted a mode which occured 
to me 18 months ago which is a Simple Globe or bombe of 
copper capable of containing one cube foot to (Manuscript is 



42 ROBERT FULTON AND THE SUBMARINE 

torn here) A Pneumatick Pump by means of which Pump 200 
Atmospheres or 200 cube feet of common Air may be forced 
Into a Bomb consequently the Bomb or reservoir will contain 
As much oxegine or Vital air as 200 cube feet of common 
respirable Air, hence if according to Cn. Gueyton's Calculation 
212 feet which is the Volume of the boat will nourish 4 Men 
and two small candles 3 hours this additional reservoir will give 
Sufficient for 6 hours — this Reservoir is constructed with a 
measure and two cocks So as to let measures of Air Into the 
Boat as Need may require — 

Previous to my leaving Paris I gave orders for this machine 
but it did not arrive till the 18 of thermidore on the 19 I or- 
dered 2 Men to fill it which was an operation of about one 
hour I then put It into the boat and with my three com- 
panions but without candles plunged to the depth of about 
5 feet, At the expiration of one hour and 40 Minuets I began 
to let off Measures of air from the reservoir and So on from 
time to time for 4 hours 20 Minuets without experiancing any 
Inconvenience — 
Having thus succeeded 

To Sail like a common Boat 

To obtain Air And light 

To Plunge and rise Perpendicelar 

To turn to the right and left at pleasure 

To steer by the Compass under Water 

To renew the Common Volume of Air with facility 

And to Augment the respirable air by a reservoir, which may 
be obtained at all times, I conceived every experiment of im- 
portance, to be proved in the most satisfactory manner hence I 
Quit the experiments on the Boat to try those of the Bomb 
Submarine. It is this bomb which is the Engine of destruc- 
tion the Plunging boat is only for the purpose of carrying the 
bomb to where it may be used to Advantage. They are con- 
structed of Copper and of different sizes to contain from 10 
to 200 Pounds of powder each bomb is arranged with a Gun 
lock In Such a manner that if it Strikes a Vessel or the Vessel 
Runs against it, the explosion will take place and the bottom 
of the Vessel be Blown in or so Shattered as to insure her 
destruction. To prove this Experiment the Prefet Maritime, 
And Admiral Vellaret ordered a Small Sloop of About 40 feet 
long to be anchored in the Road, on the 23d of Thermidor 



NEGOTIATIONS WITH FRANCE 43 

With a bomb containing about 20 Pounds of powder I ad- 
vanced to within about 200 Matres then taking my direction 
So as to pass near the Sloop I Struck her with the bomb in 
my Passage the explosion took Place and the Sloop was torn 
into Atoms, in fact nothing was left but the buye and cable, 
And the concussion was so Great that a Column of Water 
Smoak and fibres of the Sloop was cast from 80 to 100 feet 
in Air, this Simple Experiment at once Proved the effect of 
the Bomb Submarine to the Satisfaction of all the Spectators; 
of this experiment you will See Admiral Villarets description 
in a letter to the Minister of Marine — 

Having Given in a Short Sketch of the Sucession of my Ex- 
periments, the mode of using these inventions Against the 
enemy is now to be considered, on this Point time and ex- 
perience will make numerous improvements As in all other 
new inventions and discover modes of operation which could 
not possibly accur to me; when Powder was Invented Its In- 
finite applications were not thought of, nor did the Inventors 
of the Steam Engine conceive the numerous purposes to which 
It could be applied, in like manner it is Impossible At present 
to See the Various modes, or the best methods of Using a 
plunging boat or the bomb Submarine — 
But as far as I have Reflected on this point I conceive the 
best operation to be as follows — 

First 

To construct one or two Good Plunging Boats each 36 feet 
long and 12 feet wide Boats of this capacity would be Suf- 
ficient to contain 8 Men and Air for 8 hours. With Provisions 
for (paper is torn here) and transport from 25 to 30 Bombs 
at a time, their Cylenders Should be Brass and of a Strength 
to admit of descending 60 or 80 feet under Water in case of 
need And they may be Constructed to Sail from 5 to 7 Miles 
per hour; here it may be well too proove that Quick Sailing is 
not one of the most important considerations in this inven- 
tion, if such a boat is Pursued, She plunges under water and 
as She Can remain under Water from 4 to 8 hours and Make 
at least one Mile Per hour She Could rise Several miles from 
the Place where She Plunged to renew her air, thus the enemies 
Ports could be approached, And particularly under the cover 
of the Night Nor do I at Present See that any Possible Vigil- 



44 ROBERT FULTON AND THE SUBMARINE 

ence could Prevent these invisible engines entering their Ports 
and Returning at Pleasure — 



Second 

Let there also be Some hundreds of Bombs Submarine Con- 
structed of Which there Are two Sorts one arranged with Clock- 
work in Such a manner as to Go off at any Given Period from 
4 Minuets to 4 hours, the Other with a gun Lock as before 
mentioned So as to go off when it Strikes against a Vessel or 
when a Vessel runs Against it. Each of these carcasses is 
arranged So as to float from 4 to 15 feet under water in Pro- 
portion to the Water which the Vessels to be attacked Draws, 
And in this there are two advantages, the first is that the 
bomb is Invisible, the Second is that when the explosion takes 
place under water the Pressure of the colume of water to be 
removed forces the whole action of the powder Against the 
Vessel; it was the resistance of the water which caused the 
Sloop on which I proved the experiment to be reduced to 
Atoms; for Water when Struck Quick such as the Stroke of 
a cannon ball or the expansion of Powder acts like a Solid, 
and hence the whole force was Spent on the Sloop or rather 
passed through the Sloop in finding its Passage to the air by 
the perpendicular and Shortest line of Resistance — the Same 
effect would no doubt be produced on a Vessel of Any dimen- 
sions by applying a Proportionate Quantity of powder Such 
as 2, 3 or 4 hundred Weight, 

Therefore being prepared with plunging boats and Bombs 
submarine let the business of the boats be to go with cargoes 
of bombs and let them loos withe the current into the harbours 
of Portsmouth, Plymouth, Torbey or elsewhere, those with their 
graplings floating under water could not be perceived Some 
would hook in the cables, bow or Stern, or touch in their 
Passage; many no doubt would miss but Some would hit go 
off and destroy the Vessels they touched, one or more Vessels 
Destroyed in a Port by such invisible agents would render 
it to dangerous to Admit of any Vessel remaining. And thus 
the enemy may At all times be attacked in their own Ports — 
and by a means at once cheap, Simple And I conceive certain 
in its operation. Another mode Should be to go with cargoes 
of Bombs and Anchor them in the entrance of rivers So as to 
cut off or Blockade the commerce 2 or 3 hundred for example 



NEGOTIATIONS WITH FRANCE 45 

Anchored in the Thames or the channels leading to the Thames 
would completely destroy the commerce of that river and Re- 
duce London and the Cabinet of St. Jameses to any tirms; 
no Pilot could Steer clear of Such hidden dangers, no one dare 
to raise them even if hooked by graplings as they could not 
tell the moment they Might touch the Secret Spring which 
would cause the explosion and destruction of everything 
Around them. No Vessel could Pass without the utmost 
danger of running on one of them And her instant destruc- 
tion, if this measure Should ever become necessary Some Vessels 
Will most certainly be destroyed and their Destruction alarm 
the whole commerce of the Thames, by this means the Thames 
may be blockaded and the trade of London completely stoped 
nor can the combined fleets of England prevent this Kind of 
attack — And this is Perhaps the most Simple and certain 
means of convincing England that Science can put her her in 
the Power of France and of compelling her to become a humble 
Pleader for the liberty of the Seas She now denies to her 
Neighbors — I therefore conceive that it will be good Policy 
to commence as Soon as Possible the construction of the Boats 
and bombs if they can be finished before the arrival of Peace 
their effects may be Proved during this War Should Peace be 
concluded before they are finished the experiments can be con- 
tinued Men can be exersised in the use of the engines; And 
it is Probable in a few years England will See it her best policy 
never to give france reason to exersise this invention against 
her — if England cannot prevent the Blockade of the Thames 
by the means of plunging boats and Bombs submarine, of what 
use will be her boasted navy, the free Navigation of the Thames 
nourishes the immense commerce of London And the commerce 
of London is the Nerves and Vitals of the Cabinet of St. Jameses 
— convince England that you have the means of Stopping that 
Source of Riches — And She must Submit to your terms — 

Thus Citizens I have presented you with a Short account 
of my experiments and Plan for using this invention Against 
the enemy, hoping that under your protection it will be carried 
to Perfection, and Practised to promote the Liberty of 
the Seas — 

Health and Sincere Respect 

Robert Fulton 



46 ROBERT FULTON AND THE SUBMARINE 

After reading the above, the commissioners desired 
further information which Fulton gave in the following 
letter : 

" Complimentary day an 9 
(i.e. September 20, 1801) 

Robert Fulton to the Citizens Monge, La Place and Volney 
members of the National Institute and Commissioners appointed 
by the first Consul to Promote the invention of Submarine 
Navigation. 

Citizens this morning I received yours of the 2d Comp 1 As 
to the expence of Plunging boat, I believe when constructed 
in the best manner with every improvement which experience 
has Pointed out She cannot cost more than 80,000 Livers, the 
bombs Submarine may be estimated at 80 Livers each on An 
Average independent of the Powder. 

I am Sorry that I had not earlyer information of the Consuls 
desire to See the Plunging boat, when I finished my experi- 
ments. She leaked Very much and being but an imperfect 
engine I did not think her further useful hence I took her to 
Pieces, Sold her Iron work lead and Cylenders and was neces- 
sitated to break the greater part of her movements In taking 
them to Pieces, So that nothing now remains which can give 
an Idea of her Combination, but even had She been complete 
I do not think She could have been brought round to Paris — 
You will be so good as to excuse me to the Premier Consul, 
when I refuse to exhibit my drawings to a committee of En- 
gineers for this I have two reasons, the first is not to put it 
in the Power of any one to explain the Principles or move- 
ments least she Should Pass from one to another till they enemy 
obtained information, the Second is that I consider this in- 
vention as my Private Property the Perfectionment of which 
will give to france incalculable advantages over her most 
Powerful and Active enemy. And which invention I conceive 
aught to Secure to me an ample Independence, that conse- 
quently the Government Should Stipulate certain terms with 
me before I proceed to further explination: the first Consul 
is too Just and you know me too well to construe this Into an 
Avericious disposition in me. 

I have now laboured 3 years and at considerable expence to 
Prove my experiments. And I find that a man who wishes 
to Cultivate the useful Arts cannot make rapid Progress with- 



NEGOTIATIONS WITH FRANCE 47 

out Sufficient funds to put his Sucession of Ideas to immediate 
Proof — And which Sufficiency I conceive this invention Should 
Secure to me, You have intimated that the movements and 
combination of So interesting an engine Should be confided 
to trusty Persons least any accident Should happen to me, 
this Precaution I took Previous to my departure from Paris 
for my last experiment by Placing correct Drawings of the 
machine and every improvement with their descriptions In the 
hands of a friend So that any engineer capable of constructing 
a Steam engine could make the Plunging Boat and Carcasses 
or Bombs. You will therefore be so good as to beg of the first 
consul to permit you to treat with me on this business, And 
on this Point I hope there will not be much difficulty 

Health and Sincere respect 
(Signed) Robert Fulton 

From the above letter it appears that Napoleon had 
expressed a wish to inspect the Nautilus, which was pre- 
vented by Fulton having destroyed her immediately 
after the termination of the experiments. Had she been 
saved what an intensely interesting exhibit she would 
make today! 

Fulton's haste in dismantling her is quite on a par 
with his refusal to exhibit his drawings on the ground 
that they were his private property. Apparently he 
expected the French government to adopt his ideas on 
his own statement of facts and unverified interpretation 
of his experiments. In his impetuosity and lack of 
judgment he could not see that he was defeating his own 
purposes. 

The Brest experiments not only repeated the success 
shown at Havre, but gave evidence of improvements as 
was recognized by the authorities. Their attitude is 
perhaps shown by the Prefet Maritime at Brest who 
after witnessing the tests was forced to approve the 
Nautilus and all of Fulton's claims, but added, " This 
manner of making war against an enemy carries the 
adverse criticism that the person using the device and 



48 ROBERT FULTON AND THE SUBMARINE 

sinking with it would be lost. Certainly that is not a 
death for military men." How little did the estimable 
and high-minded pref et foresee the ruthless methods of 
warfare to be employed in another century. 

Delpeuch asks what were the reasons that prevented 
use being made of the Nautilus or at least from trying 
it, and in answering his own question says that it is a 
mystery that has been impossible to clear away. There 
was no mystery. All innovations, and perhaps particu- 
larly so in connection with ships, have been forced on 
the world against the opposition of those to be directly 
benefited. It was so with Fulton's submarine, and 
later with his steamboat. The change from side wheels 
to propellers, the use of metal for hulls, the introduction 
of watertight bulkheads and the elimination of sails 
were all adopted only after long delay and strong an- 
tagonism, due to the same official and unreasoning 
opposition. 

Realization of defeat came slowly to Fulton, and was 
all the more bitter because it came so. He returned to 
Paris from Brest elated by his success in demonstrating 
the value of the improvements to his previous design. 
He expected to be notified immediately that his offer 
had been accepted. As the days passed without word 
from Bonaparte, certainty of victory first gave way to 
doubt, then doubt to hope, and finally hope was changed 
to despair. In his impatience he wrote a personal letter 
to Bonaparte. This letter dated 19 Fructidor an IX 
(16 Sept., 1801) urging and begging favorable action is 
still preserved in the Archives Nationales at Paris. 

Bonaparte made no reply. 

He had made up his mind to travel the road that led 
to St. Helena. Although he gave Fulton no answer, it 
is reported that he spoke of Fulton as being a charlatan 
and a swindler, intent only on extorting money. 

There is one piece of evidence showing that Bonaparte 



NEGOTIATIONS WITH FRANCE 49 

subsequently regretted his action and realized the value 
that Pulton and his inventions might have been to him. 
Desbriere in his book entitled " 1793-1805, Pro jets et 
Tentatives de Debarquement aux lies Britanniques,' , 
quotes a letter written on July 21st to M. de Champagny, 
at that time Counsellor of State in the Marine 
department : * 

I have just read the proposition of Citizen Fulton that you 
have sent to me much too late to permit it to change the face 
of the world. However I desire that you will immediately refer 
its examination to a commission composed of members chosen 
from the different classes of the Institute. It is there that the 
wisdom of Europe should seek judges to solve the problem in 
question. As soon as the report is made it will be transmitted 
to you and you will send it to me. Be sure that this will not 
take more than a week. 

Desbriere states that the year when this letter was 
written is commonly put down as 1804. But he points 
out that in July of that year Fulton was in England 
and Champagny in Austria. The year was probably 
1803, because in July, 1803, Pulton was exhibiting a 
steam-propelled boat on the Seine, concerning which in- 
novation an official of the Navy department would un- 
doubtedly have informed the First Consul. 

During the agonizing period of waiting for an answer 
to his personal letter to Bonaparte, from which he had 
the right to expect some acknowledgment at least in 
view of the high standing of his introducers, Fulton 
still hoped. But when he heard that Bonaparte had 
characterized him as a swindler, he knew that all was 
ended, and that the door to further progress in France 

1 Je viens de lire la proposition du citoyen Fulton que vous m'avez adressee 
beaucoup trop tard, en ce qu'elle pent changer la face du monde. Quoiqu'il en 
soit, je desire que vous en confiiez immediatement l'examen a une commission 
composee de membres choisis dans Ies differentes classes de l'lnstitut. C'est la 
que l'Europe savante doit chercher des juges pour resoudre la question dont 
il s'agit. Aussitot le rapport fait, il vous sera transmis et vous me Tenverrez. 
Tachez que tout cela ne soit pas 1 'affaire de plus de huit jours. 



50 ROBERT FULTON AND THE SUBMARINE 

had been shut and finally barred. This was something 
much more to Pulton than a mere refusal of an inventor's 
offer of an incomplete device. Such a refusal he could 
have endured with courage and some equanimity. He 
had gone through similar painful experiences with his 
canal schemes and his various excavating machines. 
Now he had to suffer that disappointment and in addi- 
tion the still harder blow of having his altruistic offer 
of service and his views on political philosophy rejected 
with slanderous contempt to which he was powerless to 
reply. His writings show that his heart was as much 
set on his conception of liberty and freedom as on his 
mechanical contrivances. 

After his defeat, one that Fulton recognized as final 
so far as France was concerned, he laid aside perma- 
nently his long cherished plans for constructing small 
canals, and temporarily his consideration of submarine 
warfare, to devote his attention to the development of 
a boat propelled by a steam engine. His only subse- 
quent move to promote a system of canals coupled with 
his scheme to overcome differences in elevations by in- 
clined planes was in a letter to Albert Gallatin, dated 
Washington, Dec. 8, 1807. Gallatin was then Secretary 
of the Treasury of the United States and was about to 
issue in pursuance of a resolution of the Senate a re- 
port upon " Public Eoads and Canals." Fulton in his 
long letter, that Gallatin made a part of his report, 
urged the construction of canals in preference to high- 
ways. Engrossed, however, in his steamboat to which, 
following the rejection of the Nautilus, he had thrown 
his impetuous energy, Fulton made no effort personally 
to carry his canal plans into execution either in France 
or the United States. 

In 1801, Eobert R. Livingston had arrived in France 
as American Minister to the French Government. He 
and Fulton met at the critical period in the latter 's 



NEGOTIATIONS WITH FRANCE 51 

career. The statesman, whose mind was sympathetic to 
the consideration of mechanical applications, soon be- 
came interested in his countryman's projects. Stimu- 
lated by Livingston's personal encouragement and sup- 
ported by his financial aid, Fulton pushed his studies 
of a practical steam engine for navigation and entered 
into correspondence with Messrs. Boulton and Watt, 
then the most prominent builders of engines in England. 
The junior member of this firm was the famous James 
Watt (1736-1819), the discoverer of the principle that 
power could be produced from the elastic energy of 
steam, and the inventor of the steam condensing engine. 
Livingston as an individual with his own limited re- 
sources was about to accomplish in a few years a com- 
plete revolution of vessel propulsion that Napoleon with 
the almost unlimited resources of France could have 
done in much less time, certainly in time to offset 
England's superiority on the high seas. Livingston with 
greater vision seized the opportunity that Napoleon re- 
jected. But with this we are not concerned. 

While Fulton was working under Livingston's direc- 
tion, the British Government was not unmindful of what 
he had done in the matter of submarine experiments. 
They had a secret service at work in enemy lands as 
other governments have done before and since. In 
England there were some men in authority who appre- 
ciated the possibilities lying dormant in the scheme of 
under-water attack. 

In the British naval archives there has recently been 
found the following letter with its enclosure, recording 
the information possessed by the government and sent 
confidentially to the naval commanders that they might 
be on their guard against attack, if, perchance, any of 
Fulton's boats should have been made secretly and un- 
known to the British navy. The British authorities 
did not deceive themselves, nor were they oblivious of the 



52 



ROBERT FULTON AND THE SUBMARINE 



latent merits and actual accomplishments of Fulton's 
design. 



SECRET 

CIRCULAR 

Adml. Lord Keith 

Sheerness. 
Admiral Montagu/20th/ 

Portsmouth. 
Rear Adml. Montagu 

Downs. 
Honbl. Adml. Cornwallis 

/20th/ at Sea. 
Adml. Sir Jno. Colpoys, K. B, 

/20th/ Plymouth. 



Admiralty Office, 
19th June, 1803. 
My Lord, 

My Lords Commissioners of 
the Admty. having been in- 
formed that a plan has been 
concerted by Mr. Fulton, an 
American resident at Paris, 
under the influence of the First 
Consul of the French Republic, 
for destroying the Maritime 
Force of this Country; I am 
commanded by their Lordships 
to send you herewith the sub- 
stance of the information they 
have received relative thereto, 
that you may be apprised there- 
of, in order to your taking such 
measures as may appear to you 
necessary for frustrating any at- 
tempt on the part of the Enemy, 
connected therewith. 
I have the Honour to be, 
etc. 
(Signed) Evan Nepean 
(ENCLOSURE) 

Mr. Fulton, an American resident at Paris, has constructed 
a Vessel in which he has gone down to the bottom of the Water, 
and has remained thereunder for the space of seven Hours, at 
one time — that he has navigated the said Vessel, under water, 
at the rate of two Miles and an half per Hour; that the said 
sub-marine Vessel is uncommonly managable, and that the 
whole plan to be effected by means thereof, may be easily 
executed, and without much risk; That the Ships and Vessels 
in the port of London are liable to be destroyed with ease, 
and that the Channel of the River Thames may be ruined; 
and that it has been proved that only twentyfive pounds of 
weight of Gunpowder was sufficient to have dashed a Vessel 
to pieces off Brest, tho' externally applied. 



NEGOTIATIONS WITH FRANCE 53 

But Fulton contributed directly to the information 
possessed by the British Government of what he had 
been doing and what he had in mind. He himself states 
that he wrote to his old friend the Earl of Stanhope 
giving him " general ideas of my plans and experi- 
ments.' J Stanhope became so much interested, or 
" alarmed, " as Fulton puts it, that he made a public 
speech on the matter in the House of Lords. The speech 
by the Earl and the confidential information secured by 
the Admiralty led the British authorities to open com- 
munication with Fulton and finally, though without great 
difficulty, to induce him to go to England. They saw 
that it would be better to have the ingenious American 
a friend on their side rather than attached to the enemy's 
cause. But let Fulton tell this story in his own words 
as given in the manuscript that he left with Consul 
Lyman to be delivered to Mr. Barlow in the event of 
his being lost on the voyage home. This paper will be 
subsequently called the " Descriptions " as named by 
Fulton. 



if »j fu 



Chapter V 
THE " DRAWINGS AND DESCRIPTIONS " 

Motives for inventing submarine Navigation 
and attack, 

Statement of the causes which brought me to 
England, reflections on the prospect of emolu- 
ment held out to me by Lord Hawkesbury, 
and again under the Contract with Mr. Pitt 
and Lord Melville, 

Statement of the Sums received and disbursed 
by me. 

Robert Fulton 

Motive for inventing Submarine Navigation and attack. 



Having contemplated the Federal government of the united 
States; the Vast country comprised in them which gives room 
for 120 Millions of inhabitents ; Seeing the rapid increase of 
their population and consequently of their industry and com- 
merce; A people without colonies and who did not desire to 
have any; Without Enemies on their frontiers, and halving 
nothing to contend for but a rational intercourse with foreign 
nations by sea ; which intercourse would be interrupted on every 
war which might take place between England and France or 
between European nations; and cause Vexatious feuds and 
parties in America, which might lead to marine and army 
establishments, to alliences offensive and defensive with 
European states, thereby direct the ambition of individuals to 
Military fame and the people to warlike pursuits; and all their 
complication of evils; which might finally divide the states, 
and destroy a system which should progress as near as man is 
capable, to the perfection of civilization. 

I was to prevent the possibility of all such consequences; 
by destroying the principles which lead to them; that induced 

54 



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MANUSCRIPT PAGES WITH FULTON'S SIGNATURE 



THE "DRAWINGS AND DESCRIPTIONS " 55 

me at first to contemplate a plan which might destroy all 
Military marines and give liberty to the seas; But I did not 
hope to neutralize military marines by a confederation of mari- 
time states; Henry the Fourt of France, and the Abbey St. 
Pierre with all their influence endavoured in vain to preserve 
peace in Europe by a confederation of States and a congress 
[of st] to decide on grievances; 

I therefore looked to the arts for effecient means; and after 
some months study found that only two things were wanting: 
First to navigate under water, which I soon discovered was 
within the limits of physics, Second to find an easy mode of 
destroying a ship; which after a little time I discovered might 
be done by the explosion of some pounds of powder under her 
bottom; Being convinced of the practicability of two such en- 
gines, I commenced drawings on their combinations; and cal- 
culations on their power and effects; which occupied me near 
nine months I then began my experiments first on a small and 
then on a large scale; and in two years was so wellsatisfied 
with my success and that everything which I had contemplated 
might be performed; that I wrote to the Earl of Stanhope 
and gave him general Ideas of my plan and experiments; His 
Lordships mathematical mind soon opened to him the practi- 
cability and ultimate consequences of such a System; he felt 
alarmed and as we all know spoke of it in the house of Lords; 
which excited much public curiosity And Some ridicule; on 
the justice of which Gentlemen will now have the opportunity 
of judging; however still anxious on a subject which his talents 
gave him a facility to understand; he took the trouble about 
the year 1803 to form a committe of Gentlemen to consider 
the principles and powers of my inventions, and get all possible 
information on the progress I had made, which committee I 
believe made a report to the then Minister Lord Sydmouth; 
whose attention was awakened to it; about this time May 
1803 there was an english Gentleman in London who had known 
me for some years in Paris; Dr. Grigory became acquainted 
with him; had many conversations with him on my plan and 
its consequences if carried into effect; the Dr. Communicated 
what he had learned to Lord Sydmouth and it was agreed to 
send the Gentleman to Paris to induce me to come to London; 
when he communicated his mission to me, he said the British 
Government wished to us my submarine Vessel against the 
French fleets; I replied that in this there must be some mis- 



56 ROBERT FULTON AND THE SUBMARINE 

take that it was neither the interest nor policy of the British 
government to Introduce such a Vessel into practice; he Said 
on consideration that might be true; but Ministers wished to 
be fully acquainted with the properties of my inventions; and 
wished me out of France and in England; that would I go 
over and explain to them my engines I should be rewarded 
in proportion to their Value ; I asked if he had any written proof 
that such was their intention; he said no, that it was too dan- 
gerous to carry letters on such a subject; but as a proof of 
their liberality and the prospect which I had of being treated 
in like manner; they had given him 800 £ to pay his expences 
and mine in bringing me over; Knowing the Gentleman to be 
a man of Integrity; I believed such might be the wish of 
Ministers, Yet I would not move without some plan and written 
proof of their intention. I therefore desired him to return with 
the following proposals and if Ministers agreed to them I 
would come over, 

First, For leaving France and the pursuits which at present 
occupy me, and for going to England I [demand] require the 
sum of Ten thousand Pounds; 

Second, On my arrival in London Government shall within 
three weeks, mane a committe to examin the following prin- 
ciples of submarine Navigation and attack; 

First Principle 

That a Submarine Vessel 35 feet long, 10 feet wide, an 8 feet 
deep, capable of containing 6 persons, shall have the property 
of sailing like an ordinary fishing Boat; 

Second 

That her capacity including her machinery shall be sufficient 
to hold provisions for Six persons to continue at Sea for twenty 
days; 

Third 

That Six persons can enter such a vessel & descend in her 
under water at pleasure, 

Fourth 

That the Six men can continue under water three hours with- 
out renewing the air, 



7 



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MANUSCRIPT PAGE OF " DRAWINGS & DESCRIPTIONS" 




THE "DRAWINGS AND DESCRIPTIONS " 57 

Fifth 

That to renew the air, it is not necessary the Vessel should 
appear above water; but approaching the Surface two tubes 
project, through one of which the mephitie air is discharged, 
through the other fresh air is drawn into the Vessel, which 
operation can be performed in 3 or 4 minuets, to continue 
again three hours under water; in this manner a crew can con- 
seal themselves under water during the day, on renewing the 
air 4 times, hence might lie many days in the Neighbourhood 
of an enemy unperceived, 

Sixth 

That the crew can raise her to the surface at pleasure hoist sail 
and proceed on their [Voage] Voyage; as before descending; 

Seventh 

That where the water is not more than Sixty fathoms deep, 
and the current not more than four miles, an hour, she can cast 
anchor and continue under water at any depth from one to fifty 
feet ; that she will there remain as stationary as Vessels usually 
are while anchored on the surface; 

Eighth 

That in open Sea where bottom is not saught, she can plunge 
with safety and continue Under water while the air is respir- 
able; but in this case she must drift with the tide like a vessel 
which cannot anchor and has no wind, 

Ninth 

That in Still water and while under water, she can move for- 
wards, or backwards, to the right or left, mount or descend at 
pleasure ; 

Tenth 

That She is capable of carrying 30 Submarine bombs each con- 
taining 100 pounds of powder 

The preciding properties are all which are necessary, to a 
plunging Vessel, such a vessel cannot be taken in consequence 
of the ease with which she can hide under water during the 



58 ROBERT FULTON AND THE SUBMARINE 

day, she can make her approaches [in the night] in the night 
and must be considered as a masked [battery] Magazine which 
can lie secure in the neighbourhood of an Enemy watch an 
opportunity to deposit her cargo of Bombs and retire 
unperceived. 

Should the committee find the properties here specified within 
the laws of physics, and by the ordinary course of improvement 
reducable to simple practice, the investigation will there finish ; 
but should it so happen that I cannot make the committee 
feel these truths without Occular demonstration, I reserve to 
myself the power of building a submarine Vessel, for which the 
Government shall allow a sum not exceeding ten thousand 
pounds; to be paid progressively as I may think proper to call 
for it to proceed with the work, 

Of the Submarine Bombs, 

That a copper case containing from one hundred to three hun- 
dred pounds of powder, coming into contact with the bottom 
of a Ship of any size and explosion there taking place will 
completely destroy her; that the machinery attached to such 
Bomb is so contrived [to] as to cause explosion when the bomb 
strikes the Vessel, or when the Vessel strikes the bomb; or at 
any time desired from 4 minuets to 13 hours or, 8 days; If 
the Committee are not to be convinced of this without experi- 
ment and will appropriate any kind of Vessel I will blow her 
up with a submarine bomb to give demonstration; 

When the properties of the Submarine Vessel and Bombs 
are demonstrated and admitted by the committe, a new suc- 
cession of Ideas will of course result, it will be seen that England 
may draw advantages from these inventions, or they may be 
turned to the total destruction of the British marine; in either 
Case it is of importance to the British Government to have the 
entire command of Such engines to do with them as they may 
think proper; 

But as these inventions are the produce of my labours for 
some years, I now consider them as rich gems drawn from the 
mines of science and which I and my friends have a right to 
convert to our own advantage and which I now offer for sale 
to the British Government; For putting the Government in 
full possession of all the combinations and movements of the 
submarine Vessel; so that any Engineer of good talents can 



THE "DRAWINGS AND DESCRIPTIONS" 59 

construct one, and navigate her; also for explaining the com- 
binations of the submarine bomb, and the modes of attack 
which time and experience will multiply and perfection; I 
[demand] require the sum of one hundred thousand pounds 
Sterling — ; 

When the Gentleman departed with these proposals it was 
agreed that I should go to Holland and wait his return, I did 
so, and staid at Amsterdam three months; contrairy winds 
prevented his arrival; I Abandoned the negotiation and re- 
turned to Paris where he arrived in a few weeks with the 
following letter from Lord Hawkesbury — 

Sir: 

Your proposals have been considered with that attention 
which the merit of the invention deserves, you must well know 
that it would be contrairy to Established rules to grant such 
sums as you require, before your invention authenticated by 
actuel experiment in presence of persons appointed by this 
Government, in order that a fair opportunity may be granted 
of appreciating its merit and adiquacy to the end proposed; 
The responsibility attached to his Majesty's Ministers in their 
official capacity renders it impossible for them to advance the 
sums which you have required ; in the form pointed out by you ; 
without exciting such public attention as must be equally un- 
pleasant to you and His Majestys Ministers; if however you 
have sufficient confidence in His Majestys Government to offer 
them your invention, you may rely on being treated with the 
utmost liberality and Generosity., Though this Government 
and you, have every reason to be satisfied with the zeal and 
activity with which your friend has conducted the business, 
Yet .a negotiation personally conducted would smoothe many 
difficulties, and every facility and protection you can desire 
shall be granted you, 

And should you be disposed to accept Active employment 
from the British government you may rely on the most liberal 
treatment, proportioned to your efficient Service; — 



This letter was brought in cipher; I Shortly after left Paris 
and arrived in London on the 28 of April 1804, On My Arrival 
Lord Sydmouth and Hawkesbury, were out of office and Mr. 
Pitt was minister To him I proposed the terms before men- 



60 ROBERT FULTON AND THE*? SUBMARINE 

tioned; But Mr. Pitt and Lord Melville instead of arranging 
with me on the terms of my proposals; prefered making an 
attack on the Enemy with part of my engines; and as a fair 
prospect of emolument, at least equal if not superior to that 
which I had expected; I was to recieve 200£ a month during 
the time Government detained me on this business; and half 
the Value of all vessels of an Enemy which might be destroyed 
by my engines in 14 years; His Majestys Dockyard and ar- 
senals were to furnish every necessary means to render my plan, 
efficient; useful to the Nation and Consequently productive to 
me; and on these principles a contract was entered into which 
is inserted in the body of the arbitration Bond, 

Here read the Bond and contract; 

On drawing up this contract I foresaw that Ministers might 
discover the bad policy of introducing the whole of my en- 
gines into practice; and therefore would not organize it nor 
exersise men to it so as to render it productive to me; and 
this has proved to be the fact; Government may be said to 
have abandoned this plan And it will be seen during the in- 
vestigations that their true policy is to abandon it; if so, from 
whence are my profits to arise, what is my interest in it with 
this Governmt for 14 years, where is my emolument equivalent 
to the sum of 100 thousand pounds mentioned in the proposals? 
sent to Lord Hawkesbury. 

Now Gentlemen I foresee before you enter into an examination 
of my engines and their final consequences; that you must as 
true friends to your country advise ministers [to] never to use 
them, but to conseal them if possible from the world; it will 
then become a consideration whether 40 thousand pounds is 
a reasonable equivalent to me and my friends for abandoning 
engines of such importance to this government to do with as 
they may think proper, — and for ever giving up the prospect 
of gain which was held out to me on coming to this country; 
or which the contract presented; had my plans been organized 
and carried into effect on System; But your powers are con- 
fined within the limits of the arbitration bonds; whatever may 
be your opinion you cannot exceed the sum of 40 thousand 
pounds But from your report as men of science and calm 
delibiration ; Ministers will be able to Judge of the reasonable, 
hopes of the proprietors of these inventions and not only of 






^ 



i 




THE " DRAWINGS AND DESCRIPTIONS" 61 

justice towards them, but of the real interest of the nation; 
in now finally Setteling with me for the parties concerned; 

No Man can in Justice Say that we have not a right to make 
every possible profit of these inventions; And we have a right 
to accept Mony, or to abandon mony for fame — or raise our 
demands in proportion as time and new Idas develop the im- 
portance of these discoveries; But I have the pleasure to say 
that the gentlemen with whom I act, have never troubled me 
with one ungenerous or illiberal wish to raise their demands, 
they conceived these inventions worth at least the Value of one 
first rate man of war or 100 thousand pounds; and they have 
never deviated from this first proposal — on my part I Saw 
that government could not grant any sum with propriety, unless 
there was reasonable security given, that the proprietors would 
never communicate the engines to any nation or persons to 
the injury of the British marine; and there Is but one mode 
of giving such security That is to bind these proprietors by 
their own interest to keep the secret, I therefore Voluntarily 
offered that should I be entitled to the 40 thousand pounds; 
to receive one moiety in cash, and an annuity equal to the full 
value of the other moiety; which annuity is to be forfeited 
Should I be the means of Introducing My inventions into prac- 
tice against the British marine; perhaps this is the Strongest 
proof a man can give of his own sense of Justice and it Should 
be a convincing proof of my confidence in my own power over 
the fate of my inventions, and the good Opinion I have of the 
integrity of my friends; but whatever may be done in this 
business in capital or annuity; the annuity must depend on 
my life as their names cannot appear, having so far stated 
facts gentlemen will deliberately consider the engines the modes 
of using them their ultimate consequences, the Interest of the 
Nation, and a reasonable compensation to the proprietors; 

The first consideration will probably be the accounts, of 
which the following is a statement, 

Of the Accounts, 

The sums of money received and expended by me are as follows 

1804 July 19 of Mr. Hammond 200 

1804 [April] August 11th of Do 1500 

£ 1700 



62 ROBERT FULTON AND THE SUBMARINE 

Article the Second of the contract states that 7000 £ shall be 
allowed for Mechanical preperations, this was for the first ex- 
periment; but after the attempt off Boulogne on the Second 
of October 1804 where Lord Melville was present; he enter- 
tained such hopes from the engines, that he and Mr. Pitt, then 
at Walmer castle, ordered more Locks and large copper coffers 
to be made; and for this purpose a further sum of 3000 £ was 
about the month of November or December 1804 placed to my 
order in the house of Missrs Davison and Co. At this time 
Ministers were so well satisfied with the prospect of success 
from my engines, and feeling the right which I had to a re- 
muniration, for neglecting other pursuits and coming to this 
country, and for the communication of my engines to them 
that they granted me for my own use the Sum of Ten thousand 
pounds; it will be seen by a letter from Mr. Davison to Mr. 
Hammond, that this sum was also granted me to relieve me of 
some pecuniary embarrassments and was considered by them 
as a reward for past services; not to be refunded should nothing 
more be done or required, but to make part of any future sum 
which might be awarded to me 

Again on the 9th of October 1805 about the time Sir Sidney 
Smith took the command off Boulogne; Lord Castlereagh 
thought it right to have more locks, Bombs, Boats, and prepera- 
tions made; and for this purpose Also to pay old accounts I 

received of Sir Sidney Smith 4045£ 

Of Mr. Hammond first Sum 1700 

Of Do Second Sum 7000 

Of Do third Sum 3000 

For my private Use 10000 

25745£ 

By an error in Mr. Cutlers accounts he has refunded 1,000 £ 
to the treasurer of the navy, which leaves 24745 £ to be ac- 
counted for, of this sum it will be seen by the bills and receipts 
which were submitted to the commissioners of the Navy and 

£ S P 

passed by them that 11353.. 3.. 2 has been expended for 
government uses And 13391. . 16. . 10 to my own use 

First a remuniration 10,000 

Second my salary from the 20th of July 1804 to the 20th 

of August 1806 or 25 months at 200 £ a month 5,000 

£ 15,000 



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THE "DRAWINGS AND DESCRIPTIONS" 63 

As my right to the Salary cannot as I conceive be questioned 
for I have continued in this Country to get the decision of 
ministers; and Should the 10 thousand pounds remuniration 
be admitted Government will owe me on this Account 
1,608. . 3. . 2, such are the sums received by me and the Gross 
of their distribution the accounts will explain the details. 

Robert Fulton 
London august 10th 1806 



Description of the drawings of the Submarine 
Vessel, submarine bombs, and mode of Attack 



Plate the first halj an inch to a joot, 

The incompressible part of this vessel in which the men are 
when she descends under water, is composed of cast brass 
cylenders 6 feet diameter and 6 feet long about one inch thick; 
which will be of a strength to resist the pressure of more than 
one hundred perpendicular feet of water; Three or more of 
such cylenders may be screwed together at the flanges to make 
a length of 18 or 24 feet; the ends forming a part of a sphere 
to resist the pressure of the water in all directions; The dome 
where the Men enter may be three feet diameter three feet 
high; with a smaller dome on the lid through which observa- 
tions may be made when raised a foot above the water: 

The cylender and dome is placed in the body of an ordinary 
shaped vessel; and the water chambers for sinking will be round 
the cylender as seen in plate the second; 

In this place it will only be necessary to mention the dif- 
ferent parts which compose a submarine Vessel, any person 
acquainted with mechanics can trace their movements and uses, 

A The bow anchor, 

B The plunging flyers communicating by two angle wheels 

to the insides; 

C The bow cable, its windlass Slides backwards and forwards 

on a square axis and lays the cable in regular coils; 

D A small safety pump to drive the water out of the balancing 

chest G; suppose this pump one inch diameter, a column of 

water one inch diameter and 300 feet high would weigh about 



64 ROBERT FULTON AND THE SUBMARINE 

150 pounds; hence one Man with a lever of three to one; could 

work such a pump under a pressure of 300 feet and rendering 

the Vessel lighter than her volume of water, could mount from 

that or even a greater depth to the surface; 

E and F a pipe and cock to let the water into the balancing 

chest G; 

G The balancing chest of a capacity to receive from three 

to five hundred weight of water, when the outer chambers are 

full, the Vessel being still from three to five hundred pounds 

lighter than water; Water is then let, into the balancing chest 

correctly to such a weight that the flyers or plunging anchor 

can hold her under water; 

H A air pipe to let out the Mephitic air; there is a similar one 

which extends to the stern, and enters a Ventilator Q by which 

means the air may be renewed in the Vessel; 

/ A movement to work the rudder while under water; on going 

to plunge the man who steers must take the helm off, this 

should always be his first act least he should forget it, 

K The windlass of the plunging anchor sliding like that at 

the bow; 

J The crank of the stern flyers; of the pumps, and of the 

plunging anchor; all these movements to be performed at 

pleasure by sliding the little wheels N and in & our of gear; 

P A screw movement to hoist the stern flyers out of gear; 

and out of water when the vessel is under sail, 

M The pumps to force the water out at the pipe R. 

The mast descends the sail boom and mast are tied together 
and made fast to the deck before the operation of plunging 
commences. 



Plate the Second one inch to a foot, 

This exhibits a transeverse section A the Valve to let in the 
the water which rises up to the deck B.B from which to the 
upper deck all round the Vessel are chambers to hold sub- 
marine bombs; which are placed in the chambers through trap 
doors on deck; and which bombs being the weight of water 
will in plunging displace their volume of water; and not add 
to or deminish the weight of the Vessel; this is the best mode 
of arranging the bombs for were they inside they would be 
embarrassing and each one when taken out would require to 
be replaced with its weight of water — 





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THE " DRAWINGS AND DESCRIPTIONS " 65 

F The pipe to give air, 

G The pipe to discharge the Mephitic air, 

H.H Two air pipes to let the air out of the water chambers; 

they mount to the highest part of the Vessel to let the air 

in when the water is discharging; there should be at least 

four of these pipes; two in the bow and two in the stern; they 

may be lead from the stern along side and unite at /./ there 

the two mounting pipes H.H will be suffecient, care must be 

taken that the air can pass off with ease from all parts of the 

water chambers, or they cannot fill, nor can the vessel be got 

under water, 

C The balancing chamber. 

D The safety pump 

E The discharging pipe 

/ Is a valve to let the water go from the centre chamber to 

the two ends, but not return, by this means water may be 

drawn from either end to balance the Vessel horizontal there 

are four such Valves, 

All the communications with the exterior have cocks as will 
be seen in plate the third, 

Plate the Third one inch to a foot, 

Figure the first shews a section of the double forcing pumps 
A and B too cocks to draw the water from the right and left 
water chambers. 

Figure the second a side View of the pumps A the pump B 
the valve which lets the water pass into the body of the pump 
C the valve which discharges the water by the cock and pipe 
D by shutting all the cocks and screwing off the top plates 
which cover the Valves they may be cleaned and put in order 
though the vessel were under water, Near the pump the plung- 
ing anchor F has a cock to stop the water in case the cable 
should break E is a screw on which the anchor cap rests while 
the anchor is up and thus its weight is taken off the cable, 
Figures the 3d and 4 represent a side and end view of the 
Cable windlass and the mode of sliding on its axis, 
Figure the 5th Shews the whole communications of the pump 
tubes the great water chamber being divided into three parts, 
it is necessary to drive water out from the middle or either 
end at pleasure A A the pump seats B.B.B.B the four valve 
chambers C the discharging tube through the bottom, D a 



66 ROBERT FULTON AND THE SUBMARINE 

tube to draw water from the Balancing chest E.E to draw 

water from the right and left middle chambers only one of these 

are necessary as the water communicates by the Kelson to 

both sides 

F To draw water from the bow chambers, 

G To draw water from the stern chambers, 

H The seat of the plunging Anchor, 



Plate the 4th 

Figure the first drawn by a scale of one quarter of an inch 
to a foot, Shews the incompressible part laid down in the 
body of a boat, A and B the divisions which form the length 
of the vessel into three water chambers, with the valve to let 
the water from the middle chamber to the two ends; but not 
return ; C is a passage for the water from one side to the other. 
The other figures are of the real size, shewing the modes of 
constructing the air pipes with cork valves to let in the air 
and keep out the water; 

Plate the 5th real Size 

Figure the first shews the mode of placing the conic glass 
windows with the stop cocks in case of accidents; Figure the 
second the lid and cap of the dome; A head taking an ob- 
servation through a window; this mode of making a window 
conic renders it as strong as the surrounding brass, as relates 
to the pressure of the water, a stroke only can break them; 
Figure the third is a Bathomater, to shew the depth under 
water. 

Plate the 6 

This is an addition to the dome more curious than useful; 
it is a mode of sending up a note and bringing down an answer 
while the Vessel is under water, Figure the first A is a cock 
with the cavity B in which there is a small reel; C the handle 
of which runs to D. . . . E is a piece of Cork, the note is to 
be written on a piece of parchment, tied round the cork or 
put into it, the cock is them turned by the handle F to face 
the opening G; the reel is then turned off and the cork mounts 
to the surface attached to a small silk line, when the answer 




w 

H 

> 

H 

H 



THE "DRAWINGS AND DESCRIPTIONS " 67 

is fixed to the cork the man below wind it down into the cock 
which being turned towards the inside of the Vessel the answer 
may be taken out. 

Figure the second is an end View. 

Figure the Third shews a man operating & the cork mounting, 

this may be useful in making experiments; 

Plate the Seventh one quarter of an inch to a foot 

This shews the submarine vessel under sail and at anchor 
under water with her plunging anchor out, 

These seven drawings with this discription will enable any 
able mechanician to construct and perform the experiments 
of a submarine Vessel; It is not intended that she should 
go under or near the vessels which are to be attacked, her 
use is to enable the weaker maritime nations to attack the 
stronger without being detected or interrupted in their opera- 
tions, hence She is contrived to hide under water when pur- 
sued, where she may continue the whole day and approach 
the fleets and harbours of the enemy in the night, there anchor 
her cargo of submarine bombs under water, or leave them to 
the tide, or use them in any other way which time and prac- 
tice may point out; and retire unperceived for another cargo 
and deposit them in like manner on the coast, in the mouths 
of rivers in harbours or among fleets at anchor, and thus place 
Such numbers as would render it impossible for any Vessel 
to move through them without the imminent danger of being 
blown up and totally annihilated; 

Of the submarine Bombs and modes of 
Using them. 



As Government are in possession of the real locks and Bombs 
with the modes of arranging them for action it will not be 
necessary to make detailed drawings of the several parts. 

Plate the 8th 

Shews a bomb arranged with an instantanious lock, and an- 
chored from ten to twenty feet under water, for this purpose 
when the bomb is arranged with its lock it should be ten or 



68 ROBERT FULTON AND THE SUBMARINE 

fifteen pounds lighter than its volume water, it will then have 
a tendancy to mount to the surface but must be held down 
by an anchor or weight of 20 or more pounds; as the depth 
of water in all channels, bays and Harbours is known, the line 
D should before setting out be of such a length as will hold 
the Bomb from 5 to ten feet under water at low water, it will 
then be that number of feet added to the rise of the tide at 
high water, 

At Slack water it will stand in the position B perpendicular 
from the anchor at half ebb or flood, when the current is strong 
it will be inclined to A or C where the action of the water on 
a flat board which is fixed to its bottom at E will keep it* in 
the position here deleniated on the 5th of June in this year 
this experiment was made by my desire by Lieutenant Wm 
Robinson In Dover roads; and the result was as here described 
— A vessel under sail and striking on the Trigger F of such 
a Bomb would be instantly blown up, as will be seen in plate 
the Ninth, 

Plate the Ninth 

In this drawing A represents the Brig Dorothea as she blew 
up near walmer Castle on the 16th of October 1805, the bomb 
made use of on this occasion had a clockwork lock set to 15 
Minuets the bomb contained 180 pounds of powder; and was 
coupled by a line of 70 feet in length; to a bomb which was 
filled with peas and which served as a counterbalance; As 
the boat run within the Buoy, one was thrown to the Larbord, 
and one to the Starbord side of the bow, and at the distance 
of 60 or 80 yards from the brig; as the tide drifted them along 
the coupling line caught the cable, the pressure of the tide 
then drove the bombs under her bottom near the Keel, where 
the explosion taking place she opened in the middle was com- 
pletely decomposed and in 20 Seconds disappeared, which ex- 
periment has proved that wherever such an explosion takes 
place under the curve of a Vessels bottom; so that the action 
must be perpendicular through her, certain destruction must 
be the consequence; B represents a Ship under Sail, C. D. E 
Bombs anchored as described in the last plate, she moving to- 
wards and among them with the risk of contact and destruction ; 





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PL. 



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THE "DRAWINGS AND DESCRIPTIONS " 69 



Plate the Tenth, 

Figure 1st shews the mode of suspending the bomb to the 
cork floater A; the line B has pieces of cork on it to keep it 
from sinking; the line C is a brace to prevent the tide driving 
the Bomb by the doted line to near the surface where it could 
do no execution: the line E will be longer or shorter in pro- 
portion to the draught of water of the vessel to be attached, 
which will be further explained in figure the Third; 

Figure the Second is another mode of arranging the bomb 
A. B. C. are pieces of cork tied by small lines 8 or 10 feet long 
to the principal line D in this manner it is floated under water 
where it is not Visible nor in danger of being hooked or 
taken up; 

Figure the third is a section of a ship shewing how the 
bomb lies when first it comes alongsides; here the suspend- 
ing line A is of a length to bend round the curve of the vessel 
and lay the Bomb in the position B. where the explosion taken 
place; to get the bomb into that position two things are neces- 
sary First When it is loaded and has its lock screwed on, or 
a weight equal to that of the lock; it must be suspended in 
a tub of salt water and if too heavy it must have a cussion 
of Cork fastened to it; so as to balance it to two or three pounds 
heavyer than its volume of water; in which case its tendency 
downward being not more than three or four pounds a little 
pressure of tide will raise it or move it latirally; and that it 
may mount latirally, and move to the position B, it must be 
hung with an inclination to the tide, as will be seen in figure 
the fourth, in which A represents a Vessel to be attacked, B 
her cable, C. C. two bombs united by a line 100 or more feet 
long, which line is tied by the bridles D. D. when it touches 
the cable the tide drives the bombs alongside; the pressure 
of the tide on the angle D will then drive them under the 
bottom of the Vessel as seen in Figure the 3d. 

The Bomb was thus arranged to blow up the Brig Dorothea, 

To throw them in case of an attack it is only necessary for 
the Boats to run inside of the Buoy — ; which might be done 
of a dark night without being observed, or if Seen, would run 
little risk from musket shot in the dark, and at such a distance, 



70 ROBERT FULTON AND THE SUBMARINE 

Observations on these inventions 



It having been fully proved that the explosion of a Submarine 
Bomb under a vessel will completely destroy her, it is now 
necessary to consider the expence of the two kinds of Bombs 
and their application; The expence of the Bomb complete, 
with the instantanious lock will be as follows 

£ S D 

Lock 2.. . .0 

Bomb of Copper 2. . 10 . .0 

100 lb of powder 7. . 10 . .0 

Anchor or weight and lines 2..0..0 



£14.. ..0 



The Bomb with the clockwork Lock 

Lock 10 ..0 ..0 

Bomb of Copper 2. . 10 . .0 

100 lb of powder 7. . 10 . .0 

Cork and lines 2 . . . . 



£22.. ..0 



The Average price is 18 £ and each bomb of 18 £ Value is 
of a power to do as much execution as a fire ship which costs 
2 or 3 thousand; 6,660 of them may be made for 120 thousand 
pounds or the first cost of one first rate Ship of the line when 
engines of such destructive powers can be multiplied to so 
great a degree, and at an expence which cannot be felt by an 
opulent nation the practice of them may produce novel and 
serious consequences 

In cases where a nation commands the seas as in the pres- 
ent state of the British marine, the Seamen can approach suf- 
feciently near the Enemy's harbours and roadsteads to use such 
engines from common boats; by which means several hundred 
Bombs with instantanious Locks might be anchored in the 
passages leading to the Texel, Havre, Brest or other ports of 



THE " DRAWINGS AND DESCRIPTIONS " 71 

the Enemy which would render it impossible for any Vessel 
to move in or out. But it may be said that the Enemy are 
already completely blockaded and England has no need for 
such a mode of war; this I admit, but this mode is less ex- 
pensive than the Usual method of Blockading and destressing 
an Enemy's commerce; yet should the economy not be thought 
of importance Still this invention has to be considered in 
another point of View, and that of the most interesting kind, 
Which is; 

how would it affect the commerce and marine of England 
had the French the means of anchoring 20 or 20 thousand such 
Bombs in the channels to the Thames in the Bays, Harbours, 
Roadsteads, and a long the coast of England, Scotland or 
Ireland ; 

I will now endavour to Shew what an Economic simple and 
certain means this would give to France to totally destroy the 
British Marine 

And First as to Economy, 

The Boulogne Flotilla has cost the french treasury more than 
three millions Sterling, for this sum, more than Two hundred 
thousand instantanious Bombs might be made; with such a 
Magazine at Boulogne or Calais and 100 good row boats the 
Enemy might each dark night throw some hundreds of Bombs 
in the channels of the Thames in the Downs or along the 
coast, to the total destruction of the British Commerce, And 
if her commerce cannot be protected what is the use of her 
Marine? 

I will now Shew that were this Simple System organized 
in France, it is not in the power of the whole British marine 
to prevent the practice of it to any extent which Bonapart 
might desire, and he certainly would desire the annihilation of 
the British Marine, — 

For example. Suppose the French boats were to anchor 500 
Bombs in one night in the waters before Boulogne; where the 
Blockading squadern usually cruise; some of the cruising 
squadern would most certainly be blown up, and the fleet would 
be obliged to Keep at a greater distance. The Bombs being 
anchored 6 Feet under water at low water, would admit of 
row and sail boats to pass over them without danger; while 
vessels drawing from 15 to 20 feet of water and running among 
them would be destroyed, The french Boats passing over the 



72 ROBERT FULTON AND THE SUBMARINE 

Bombs or knowing the line in which they had anchored them; 
could the next dark night anchor another 500 still further out, 
and compel the blockading squadern to keep at a still greater 
distance; In fact 1200 Bombs would lay a whole line from 
Calais to Dover, allowing an interval of only 30 yards between 
each, and 12,000 which would only cost 168,000 £ would lay 
ten lines from Dover to Calais which would render it impos- 
sible for any Vessel to pass without certain destruction, and 
thus a Blockade of the whole Channel would be formed of 
which plate the 11 will give some Idea; 

Plate 11 

I have before observed that the french boats could not be 
prevented depositing the bombs in this manner; Ships of war 
could not prevent them Because they dare not approach where 
the Bombs are anchored ; British boats could not prevent them 
because they could not always be on the watch; and Second 
because the french boats can or may be encouraged to combat 
any boats whatever ; And the moment this System or any other 
reduces the British marine to Boat fighting, the revered Sov- 
ereignty of the seas will be for ever lost; Colonies must be 
Abandoned and the whole influence which England holds in 
the scale of nations will Vanish, This is the natural and ob- 
vious consequence of this system when reduced to practice and 
prosicuted by a powerful nation with energy and Spirit; 
Ten lines of Instantanious Bombs or even a less number an- 
chored in the British channel would cut off the greater part 
of the commerce of London and of England, The wealth of 
England and the existance of her fleets depend on her immense 
and uninterrupted commerce, 

But should France ever possess a means to cut off or interrupt 
such trade, England would be obliged to submit to any terms 
which Bonapart might think proper to dictate, I think I have 
here shewn that the plan described would give him such power, 
Gentlemen will deliberately consider it and its consequences — 

When Mr. Pitt saw the sketch of this engine of simple con- 
struction, easy application, and powerful effect, he observed 
that if Introduced into practice it would lead to the annihila- 
tion of all military marines, It was therefore agreed not to 
use it, — But when I speak of my interest and that of my 
friends in these inventions, I must call the particular Atten- 



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THE "DRAWINGS AND DESCRIPTIONS " 73 

tion of the Arbitrators to this engine to Shew that while in 
france I might have brought forward this system to the in- 
finite Injury of England; I did not bring it forward but came 
to this Country by Invitation to explain the engines to govern- 
ment; and receive what might be considered a fair equivalent 
for inventions of such magnitude, leaving them to government 
to use or not as they might think proper; It must therefore 
be considered that my negative to France is a Positive ad- 
vantage to England, and out of these Ideas will arise con- 
siderations on such sums or annuity as a Great nation can 
afford to pay for her own security, and which should in reason 
satisfy men possessed of inventions the consequences of which 
are incalculable, 

After what has been said on the practice of the instantanious 
Bomb, it will be seen that the submarine Vessel is not of much 
importance nor necessary to Carry such engines into effect from 
England against France, or from France against England, but 
it would be of the first importance to the Sweeds, Danes, Dutch, 
Spaniards or Portuguise in a War against England for with 
such vessels they could come without risque and anchor in- 
stantanious Bombs in the British channel in the mouth of the 
Thames in the roadsteads and, along the coast, and distress 
the commerce to as great a degree as before described, 

Each submarine Vessel constructed in the best manner would 
cost about 8,000 £ 10 of them could be built for 80 Thousand 
pounds, and each of them requiring 6 men to Navigate them, 
the total would be 60 men. Each Vessel could carry 30 bombs 
the ten could convoy 300, Besides the Bombs each could carry 
water and provisions for 6 men for 6 weeks, they are there- 
fore calculated to navigate all the narrow seas of Europe and 
might anchor Bombs in any channel or roadstead where it 
might be thought necessary; Thus it is that this invention of 
submarine navigation and Submarine Bombs, gives to the minor 
maritime powers a decided advantage over the Major maritime 
Nations, 

The manner of attacking a single ship with two clockwork 
bombs has been explained in plate the tenth; which mode I 
conceive will be allowed to be less expensive than fire ships 
and attended with less Risk than Bordage or any mode now 
in practice 

But suppose an enterprise to send such Bombs in among 
the Shipping at Brest or any other open port; the tide run- 



74 ROBERT FULTON AND THE SUBMARINE 

ning at the rate of two miles an hour, the clockwork being 
set to two hours would make it practicable to set the Bombs 
afloat at four miles distance from the Enemy; and they would 
arrive among the shipping about the time the explosions com- 
menced; It would of course be advisable to get as near the 
Enemy as possible before giving the Bombs to the tide, and 
in allmost all cases it is possible to near them within two miles 
or a mile and a half in the night time; the clockwork should 
be set accordingly 

Plate 12 

Plate the 12 will Shew how the hooks are arranged to pass 
the Buoys and yet hook in the Cable; in all cases where the 
line of the Bomb may cross one; it is a round ended hook 
filled in with cork to keep it from sinking being round at the 
end it cannot hook in the Buoy, but if the line crosses a cable 
it will glide along till it comes to the hook and be caught, 
the Bomb will then drift alongside, and sheer under the ships 
bottom, this being a mode of attack it is to be considered what 
would be the risk of 10, 15 or 20 Sail were 2 or 3 hundred 
such bombs floated among them in one night. 
But as Ships at anchor cannot follow or even fire to advan- 
tage in the night on boats which are 4 or 5 hundred yards 
off; it [necessarily] reduces the enemy to the necessity of de- 
fending themselves against boats, by boats — , this being the 
Case what could prevent 40 British Boats running with the 
flood into the harbour of Brest, there throw their Bombs across 
the Bows and retire with the ebb of night;? 16 oard cutters 
each with 4 or 5 marines and two swivels would complete such 
an enterprise with little risk for as the objects of the British 
Boats would not to fight but run: the oars would never be 
interrupted and their Velocity together with the fire of the 
marines would clear their way through any of the enemy's 
boats which could be ready to oppose them; but they would 
have another advantage for the explosion of the first bomb or 
the Blowing up of the first ship, would occupy all the enemy's 
boats In saving the men which would leave little or no oppo- 
sition to the British Boats; I Leave to nautical Gentlemen 
to consider whether such an attack with such engines whose 
operation is instantanious ; Is not practicable for British sea- 
men in Brest harbour; and if at Brest, it is also practicable 
at Cadiz and other ports, and presents a more effectual mode 








i I 

i ii 



J 






>« S, "* 



» v 

N 




THE "DRAWINGS AND DESCRIPTIONS " 75 

of destroying the Enemys fleets than any method now in prac- 
tice and with less risk, But I do not expect Gentlemen to 
decide in favour of this mode of attack without first contem- 
plating Galleys or cutters of the best construction, and picked 
men, habituated and exersised to the System and practice of 
the Bombs, — For as a morter is not given to the manage- 
ment of a lighthouseman, but to a Bombadeer, so these en- 
gines should not be confided to officers or men till they had 
been practiced in the use of them, 

I have now described the leading principles of this mode 
of warfare; it is well known that all new inventions, and par- 
ticularly those connected with a government, require years to 
perfect them, to render them fameliar, effecient; and introduce 
them into general practice; men must be exersised establish- 
ments must be made, and the plan whatever it is Should be 
pursued with System, 

But when ever any invention, or project is within the limits 
of Physics and evidently practicable, it is to be reduced to 
simple operations and fameliar practice by time; and the in- 
ducement to perfect it is always in proportion to the magni- 
tude of the object in View; 

Every principle her ascerted has already been proved by prac- 
tice, what then is wanting to make them productive of all 
the consequences here contemplated? only time and perse- 
verence, even talent is hardly necessary; for all the principal 
defficulties have been overcome, the question therefore on the 
policy and true interest of this government concerning these 
inventions is whether they Should rest in their present state 
or be left to the proprietors to convert to their own advantage 
as they think proper; 

As gun powder, Cannon, muskets, gun locks, and even flints, 
all had opponents prejudices and established habits to en- 
counter; yet have in time totally Changed the art of war and 
the relative strength of nations: — So these inventions on 
submarine navigation and attack may now be considered as 
the Embryo of a total change in the military marine system; 
and the existing relative power of States; it, is therefore a 
subject not only of simple arbitration but one on which the 
Arbitrators as men of science should deliberate with the ut- 
most care For it is now and by their means, that the present 
and future Ministers, the guardiens of the interests of Great 



76 ROBERT FULTON AND THE SUBMARINE 

Britain; are to get exact Ideas on this subject, and fully make 
up their minds, whether there is anything to be hoped or feared 
from this system; Vulgar men see and admit only of such 
things as time and practice has rendered fameliar to all Man- 
kind; Men of Sense and science penitrate from principles to 
future and certain effects 

Robert Fulton 
London, 
August 10th 1806 

Additional Notes 



Of the supply of air in the submarine Vessel 



The Cylender or incompressible part of this Vessel being 6 feet 
diameter and 24 feet long will have an Area of 672 cube feet 
on allowing a Man to consume the Oxygene of 20 Cubic feet 
in an hour it would be suffecient for one Man for 33 hours or 
for 6 men for 5 hours or should each Man consume the oxy- 
gene of only 15 cube feet in an hour and which is the usual 
estimate, there would be sufficient for 6 men for 7 hours or 
should a greater supply of air be necessary for any particular 
operation it may be done as in the following sketch 




A is a cast Iron or copper box one cube yard or 27 cube feet. 
Into this 20 atmospheres may be compressed by proper pumps 
B is a measure of half a cube foot C. D two cocks C being 
shut D is opened and the measure B filled D is then Shut 
and C opened which lets the measure of air circulate in the 
Vessel, the 20 atmospheres compressed in in this reservoir would 
equal 540 cube feet of common air and suffice for the 6 men 
for 5 hours more and thus the 6 men might continue under 
water 11 hours in such case were they in a harbour or sur- 



" 



p 



^ 







9 



W 
H 



# 






THE "DRAWINGS AND DESCRIPTIONS " 77 

rounded by a fleet they could continue under water all day 
and mounting with their air pipe out of water in the night re- 
new the air for the following day, but this is contemplating 
an extreme case, a Vessel which can stay 4 hours under water 
can move 8 miles in that time where the tide is two miles an 
hour and could get out of any open harbour Such as Brest, 
Cadiz & 



On the weight of the Cylender and its Buoyancy 

Suppose it cast one inch thick on calculating its cube inches 
and allowing 4 cube inches of brass to a pound it would Weigh 
about 8 tons. Its volume of water or 672 cube feet would 
weigh upwards of 16 tons, hence such a cylender hermetically 
cloased would float 8 tons lighter than Water 



Chapter VI 
THE BRITISH CONTRACT 

Size of the " Drawings and Descriptions." Pseudonyms. Pro- 
posals. Contract with the British government. Was Fulton false 
to his principles in supporting Great Britain against France? His 
financial position under the contract. 

The " Descriptions " that Fulton left in England 
were in two parts, of which the first is a recital of his 
negotiations and work, and the second a minute descrip- 
tion of the boat and bombs. Both parts are wholly in 
Fulton's handwriting and cover twelve double sheets 
of paper, five for the first and seven for the second part. 
The sheets are 14| inches high with a double or folded 
width of 19^ inches. The writing is on both sides of 
the sheets, so that exclusive of the outside pages, which 
are left blank, except for the descriptive recital on 
page 1 of the first part, there are 43 pages of writing. 
There are from 26 to 28 lines to a page with a margin 
of 2 inches on the left-hand side, and about 8 words to 
a line. The paper is heavy hand-made linen, slightly 
off the white in color with gilt on the edges. One-half 
of each sheet is water-marked with a design composed 
of a crown and fleux-de-lys surmounting the letters 
P & B, the other half of the sheet being water-marked 
Portal & Co. 1796. 

The drawings are water-colored and are on sheets of 
heavy Bristol paper measuring 22^xl8| inches. As 
will be seen each one is dated and signed by Fulton. 

The " Bond and Contract " to which reference is made 
was found in 1812 among the papers of Lord Melville 
and was then deposited by his executors in the Public 

78 



THE BRITISH CONTRACT 79 

Record office. With the exception of the Admiralty 
circular given on page 52, the contemporaneous 
archives of the government contain little concerning 
Fulton's work, and are in this respect quite different 
from the French records. The explanation is that the 
British ministers were fearful lest information regard- 
ing the submarine should transpire to their detriment. 
They, therefore, treated all correspondence as confiden- 
tial and kept letters and other documents in their per- 
sonal rather than official files. In fact Fulton adopted 
the pseudonym of " Robert Francis," a designation 
that was frequently, though not exclusively, used by 
both the Government officials and himself in correspond- 
ence during the years 1804^1806. 

The " Contract " was Fulton's own conception in 
form and substance, the government accepting the terms 
that he proposed. This is shown by his notes and copies 
of letters that still exist. 

Lord Hawkesbury who had induced Fulton to leave 
France for England was Robert Banks Jenkinson 
(1770-1828). His father, created Lord Hawkesbury in 
1786 and Earl of Liverpool in 1796, had served as Sec- 
retary for War from 1778 and therefore during the 
greater part of the American Revolution. The son, 
using his father's junior title of Lord Hawkesbury, be- 
came Secretary for Foreign Affairs in 1801 in the 
Addington ministry. As such Secretary, he would be 
the one to open negotiations with Fulton in Paris. 

Fulton arrived in London on the 19th of May. Ad- 
dington had been displaced by Pitt in the control of 
the government a few days before. Lord Hawkesbury, 
though no longer in charge of Foreign Affairs, continued 
in office, holding the portfolio of the Home Office in the 
new cabinet. In spite of his change of status, Fulton 
would naturally call on him as the only official with 
whom he was acquainted. In his note book, in which he 



80 ROBERT FULTON AND THE SUBMARINE 

copied in neat hand the letter of Lord Hawkesbury that 
the agent " Mr. Smith " had handed him in Paris, he 
writes at the bottom of the copy of the letter, " I had an 
interview with Mr. Hammond on the 21 when he desired 
me to give in proposals they were as follows." 

From this juxtaposition of names it is fair to assume 
that to Lord Hawkesbury he gave the name of Ham- 
mond. Fulton was fond of doing such things. His own 
attempt at personal disguise under the name of Francis 
was very thin. The coincidence that his real and tem- 
porarily assumed names began with the same letter will 
be noted. So do Hawkesbury and Hammond. The 
letters to " Mr. Hammond " are letters that would be 
written only to one who was high in authority. It was 
not in accordance with Fulton's character to send such 
communications as are the Hammond letters to a sub- 
ordinate. In " Mr. Hammond " can be seen Lord 
Hawkesbury who had just been made a peer in his own 
right and was Pitt's leader in the House of Lords. This 
identification of " Mr. Hammond " will be borne in 
mind in connection with several letters given on pages 
96 et seq. as well as those immediately below containing 
the proposals promised on May 21st. 

London May the 22d 1804 

Proposals for the examination of a System of Submarine 
navigation, 

Having been invited to London by the late Administration 
to demonstrate the practicability of navigating under water 
and attacking and destroying ships of war by submarine opera- 
tions I propose that government name a commission as they 
think proper to examine the following principles and give their 
decision for or against each article, which commission Should 
be composed of at least two able mechanecians and one 
Chymest, — 



THE BRITISH CONTRACT 81 

Then follows matter describing the plunging vessel 
almost verbatim with that given in the " Descriptions," 
beginning with First principle on page 56 down to and 
including the demand for £100,000 on page 59, after 
which the proposals continue as follows: 

What plans government may have in View to draw the power 
of Bounapart into governable limits Secure perminant peace 
and forever remove all Ideas from the Side of France I do not 
pretend to Conjecture 

I beg leave to propose one which will be prompt in execu- 
tion and if Successful will forever Remove from the mind of 
Man the possibility of France making a descent on England 
I propose a submarine expedition to destroy the fleets of 
Boulogne and Brest as they now lie I am ready to exhibit 
the practicability of my plan or at least that the chances are 
many to one in favour of Success, and merits immediate at- 
tention as the Season is much advanced much is to be done 
and no time should be lost, 

If government adopt my plan it must be organized nearly 
as follows, 

One good Mechanecian must receive my drawings take my 
orders and see to the execution of the Machinery. An Active 
Sea officer must have power to choose 100 hardy seamen out 
of the fleet who are good swimmers about 40 tons of powder 
and 7 thousand pounds for various expences will fit out the 
expedition. 

If government give into this plan I demand the following 
terms 

A pay of 200 pounds a Month while I devote my time to 
the enterprise or till government notify that they have no 
further need of my exertions, 

If Government appoint their own officers to make the At- 
tack; from the directions I may give, without my going to 
Sea to direct it I demand only the monthly pay 

But if government think proper that I go on board a Ship 
of war off Boulogne and Brest to direct the time and mode of 
Attack I demand one fourth the Value of each Vessel burnt 
or destroyed, In either case if I do not succeed I demand noth- 
ing for my trouble but the monthly pay before mentioned, till 
government notify that my exertions are no longer necessary, 

Robert Francis 



82 ROBERT FULTON AND THE SUBMARINE 

These proposals were sent under a covering letter to 
" Mr. Hammond " dated the following day. 

London May the 23d 1804 
Mr. Hammond 

Sir I herewith send you my proposals for examining the 
principles of submarine navigation^ also my proposal for a 
submarine attack on Boulogne and Brest, in this period of our 
communications it is necessary we Should clearly understand 
eachother, First Ministers will have the goodness to examine 
the mode I propose for investigating the properties and com- 
binations of Submarine navigation, if they approve of it they 
will Sign it as a contract between them an me, then appoint 
a commission to decide which commission approving the re- 
ward follows ; this part finished the expedition if thought proper 
is to commence on the terms specified 

I have the honor to be with 
much respect your most obedient 

Robert Francis 



Without waiting for his proposals to be accepted, 
Fulton's mind began working on the commission to be 
named. On June 12th he suggested to " Mr. Ham- 
mond " that the government and he should name an, 
equal number, the majority to decide. On his part, he 
proposed Bishop Watson, Sir John Sinclair, Lord 
Stanhope and the Rev. Edmund Cartwright. Appar- 
ently Fulton had great faith in the efficacy of the church 
in this matter. 

The Bond and Contract is on five pages wholly in 
Fulton's handwriting with an outside sheet with two 
dockets, one reading 

Articles of Agreement 
with Mr. Fulton 
20th July 1804 



The other 



THE BRITISH CONTRACT 83 



This attested Counterpart 
of an agreement between 
His Majesty's Government 
in 1804 & Mr. Robert 
Fulton was found among 
the papers of the late 
Lord Viscount Melville, 
22nd Jan. 1812. 

M 



Articles of Agreement between the Right Honorable William 
Pitt, first Lord commissioner of his Majesty's treasury and 
Chancelor of the Exchequer; and the Right Honorable Lord 
Viscount Melville first Lord of the Admiralty, in behalf of his 
Majesty's government on the one part; and Robert Fulton 
citizen of the United States of America and inventor of a plan 
of attacking fleets by submarine Bombs, on the other part, 

The said Robert Fulton agrees to disclose the principles of 
his scheme to Sir Home Popham and to superintend the execu- 
tion of it on the following conditions 

First To be paid Two hundred pounds a month while he 
is employed on this Service for his personal trouble and 
Expences; 

Second, To have a credit lodged from time to time for the 
payment of his Mechanical preperations, not to exceed Seven 
thousand pounds. 

Third, That in His Majesty's dockyards and Arsenals shall 
be made or furnished all such articles as may be required, which 
are applicable to this purpose. 

Fourth, If any circumstance should arise to prevent govern- 
ment carrying this plan into execution then the parties are 
each to name two commissioners for the purpose of examining 
the principles; and trying such experiments as they may think 
proper, And if it should appear to the Majority of the Mem- 
bers that the plan is practicable and offers a more effectual 
mode of destroying the enemies fleet at Boulogne, Brest, or 
elsewhere, than any now in practice and with less risk, then 
government is to pay the said Robert Fulton the sum of Forty 
Thousand Pounds as a compensation for demonstrating the 
principles, and making over the entire possession of his sub- 
marine Mode of Attack. 



84 ROBERT FULTON AND THE SUBMARINE 

Fifth When the Said Robert Fulton has destroyed by his 
submarine carcasses or Bombs one of the enemies deck'd 
Vessels, then Government is to pay him the sum of Forty 
Thousand pounds, provided commissioners appointed As in the 
previous article shall be of opinion that the same Scheme can 
be practically applied to the destruction of the enemies fleets, 

Sixth, If the Arbitrators differ in opinion then they are to 
draw lots for the choice of an Umpire and the Majority of 
Voices to decide all points of reference within the construction 
of this agreement and that decision to be final 

Seventh One half the supposed Value of all Vessels de- 
stroyed by Mr. Fulton's Submarine Mode of attack to be paid 
him by government as long as he superintends the execution 
of his plan; but when government has no further occasion for 
his service; or that he wishes to retire, then he is only to be 
paid one quarter of the supposed value of such vessels as may 
be destroyed by his scheme, and this remuneration to continue 
for the space of fourteen years from the date thereof 

Eighth, In case the Vessels destroyed by this scheme should 
exceed in amount Forty thousand pounds, then the Forty 
Thousand pounds first stipulated to be paid, $hall be con- 
sidered as part payment of the whole sum which may become 
due to the said Robert Fulton, 

Ninth, If in the course of practice any improvemt Should 
be Suggested that can only be esteemed as a collateral Aid to 
the general principles of Mr. Fulton's mode of attack, then 
such improvements are not to deminish or set aside his claims 
on government, 

Tenth, All monies which may become due to Mr. Fulton 
to be paid within six months from the time when they Shall 
be so adjudged according to the tenor of this agreement, 

Eleventh, This agreement to be considered by both parties 
as a liberal covenant with a View to protect the Rights of the 
individual, and to prevent any improper advantages being taken 
of his Majesty's Government. 

Mr. Fulton having deposited the drawings and plans of his 
submarine scheme of attack; in the hands of a confidential 
friend with the View to their being delivered to the American 
government in case of his death, does hereby bind himself to 
withdraw all such plans and drawings and not devulge them 
or any part of his principles to any person whatever for the 



THE BRITISH CONTRACT 85 

space of fourteen years; which is the term during which he is 
to derive all the advantages of their operation from the British 
Government, 

The benefit of the foregoing agreement shall be extended 
to the heirs and executors of the said Robert Fulton, 
Signed this Seventeenth day of July one thousand eight 
hundred and four 

exchanged with a counterpart Robert Fulton 

signed by the Right Honble 
William Pitt & the Right 
Honble Lord Melville 

H.P. 
Witness 

Home Popham 

The reading of these remarkable documents of such 
great historical interest, especially at this time when 
submarine navigation has been developed to the point 
of complete success, kindles many lively reflections. 

The question is whether Fulton acted as a man of 
honor in abandoning the country for which he had volun- 
teered to fight and where he had received such signal and 
loyal service from its citizens. Was he justified in trans- 
ferring his support to another nation at war with France 
and thus help destroy the growing power of France for 
which country he had professed so much affection ? This 
question has been debated by Fulton's biographers, al- 
though apparently none of them knew exactly what it was 
that Fulton had done for the British Government. They 
were all under the impression that his work consisted 
chiefly in the demonstration of the efficacy of torpedoes, 
carcasses or bombs as Fulton vicariously called them, or 
mines as we would speak of them today. Cadwallader 
D. Colden gives several pages of his book to developing, 
with some labor, an excuse for Fulton. Dickinson finds 
some justification in the fact that Fulton had been only 
partially reimbursed by the French Government for his 
work, but more particularly in that the development of 



86 ROBERT FULTON AND THE SUBMARINE 

Napoleon's ambitions was repugnant to Fulton's ideas 
of republicanism. The last is without question the 
correct and only view to take. 

A radical republican, hating blindly all forms of 
autocracy, he had remained in Prance believing that in 
Prance he would see the full flowering of his principles. 
He offered his inventions to the French Government, 
not for pecuniary gain, because his proposals show that 
he was willing to abide by their decision as to the 
monetary value to be determined only after he had 
achieved success, but because he thought that the French 
revolution was a real movement toward perfect liberty. 
To this end he offered not only his device, but also him- 
self. He was anxious to be enrolled in the fighting 
force of France and go forth in his little boat to do 
battle against mighty England. When, therefore, he 
was refused by Bonaparte and his sincere offers scorned 
with absolutely unjustified insult, we can imagine his 
revulsion of sentiment and forgive any bitterness of 
feeling. In a moment his idol was shattered. He 
realized that those in control of the French Government 
were not actuated by a broad conception of world free- 
dom, but solely by personal ambition and thirst for 
power. He makes this position quite clear in a letter 
to Lord Melville quoted by Colden as follows, though, 
before publishing, the latter must have edited the orthog- 
raphy: " In writing this letter, I feel no enmity to the 
people of France, or any other people; on the contrary, 
I wish their happiness; for my principle is, that every 
nation profits by the prosperity of its neighbours, pro- 
vided the governments of its neighbours be humane and 
just. What is here said, is directed against the tyran- 
nic principles of Bonaparte, a man who has set himself 
above all law; he is, therefore in that state which Lord 
Somers compares to that of a wild beast unrestrained 
by any rule, and he should be hunted down as the enemy 



THE BRITISH CONTRACT 87 

of mankind. This, however, is the business of French- 
men. With regard to the nations of Europe, they can 
only hold him in governable limits, by fencing him round 
with bayonets." 

France, his dearly beloved France, was no more 
liberal under the upstart clique of the consulate than 
was England under the regime of her long established 
autocracy. This is the only explanation of how and why 
Fulton abandoned his allegiance to France, went to 
England and there worked to strengthen the British 
navy that it might the more easily smash the growing 
power of the French fleet with which he had once so 
ardently desired to serve. He had been cruelly stabbed 
by the hands of his friends in the most tender spot in 
his heart. This cruelty that served to clear his vision 
he could not forgive, much less forget. 

Fulton had undoubtedly been unfairly and even 
cruelly treated by the French authorities. His cher- 
ished ideas into which he had thrown his whole soul 
had been rejected without fair or reasonable examina- 
tion. His pride had been deeply wounded. But Fulton 
was magnanimous enough to have overlooked this treat- 
ment had France herself remained true to his concep- 
tion of her own ideals. It was not that Fulton abandoned 
France, but that France deserted Fulton. From his 
arrival in 1797, he thought that he saw in France a great 
exponent of a new world liberty, with freedom of trade, 
freedom of men, freedom of the seas, and above all an 
enduring world-wide peace. In his enthusiasm he be- 
lieved that such ideals, in which he firmly believed, were 
not only practically realizable, but that France was 
about to make them the guiding principles of every na- 
tion. It was for that reason that he so warmly espoused 
her cause. 

In 1797, soon after his arrival in Paris, he wrote to 
his friend Lord Stanhope his views based on what he 



88 ROBERT FULTON AND THE SUBMARINE 

fancied to be the actuating theory of the French 
revolution : 

My Lord 

Hoping every month to Return .to England, together with 
the difficulty of transmitting Letters to London, has hitherto 
prevented my Writing to you Since my arrival In Paris. But 
at present I have troubeled you with a very Long Letter, the 
object of Which I will here explain, — Since my arrival In 
Paris I have been Very active In my Canal pursuits, And on 
this Subject I have Created a Revolution In the mind of all 
the french engeneers I have met with, who are now descidedly 
In favour of the Small System of Canals — Which are now 
Contemplated on an emmense Scale of extension which you 
will See explained in my Letter — It is Contemplated to 
Raise the Whole Revenue by a Single toll on Canals which 
System will Infinately Simplify the operations of Government, 
tend directly to Set trade free and annihilate a Mass of Political 
absurdities which have hitherto disturbed the peace of Nations 
— all of Which you will find explained in the annexed Letter, 
Which Letter will Shew you how much Frenchmen are turn- 
ing their mind to the true fountain of Riches — viz home 
Improvement and Systems of Industry. With the true philoso- 
phic Ideas which the entertain of Foreign Possessions and 
Restricted trade — And I Can assure you that I find In them the 
most Resolute determination to establish the principles which 
you will find explained And Which to me appears of the Very 
first Importance to Lasting peace — and the Wellfare of all 
Nations — It is therefore of much Importance that English 
Men Should know the truth of these principles and Learn their 
true Interest by Giving up as the french mean to do, and will 
Compel others to do the System of foreign Possessions and 
Restricted trade they should also understand that Frenchmen 
are Realy thinking Like philosophers Which I hope my Letter 
will prove. 

By 1801, when his offer of his talents and personal 
service were spurned, Napoleon was already leading 
France far afield from the altruistic but impossible 
programme of 1797. In 1802, Napoleon had made him- 
self consul for life. In the spring of 1804, he was 



THE BRITISH CONTRACT 89 

proclaimed Emperor of the French and the beautiful 
dream that had entranced Pulton for more than ten years 
had faded into nothingness, as dreams usually do. He 
saw that in the aristocracy of England he could find a 
truer democracy than in the demagogic leaders of 
France. Fulton was but human. His warm heart, ar- 
tistic temperament and impetuous nature now asserted 
themselves and drove him back to the country whence 
his forebears had come, and away from the people whose 
governing powers had wounded his pride and had failed 
him in his ideals. 

The " Descriptions " given above were written just 
prior to August 10th, 1806, and recite the course of events 
from the autumn of 1803. At the time they were signed, 
Fulton was arranging to return to America, and actu- 
ally sailed about ten weeks later. His negotiations with 
the Government had not been satisfactory in that his 
devices had not been accepted and he had not received 
in money what he felt was due. The contract shows 
that Fulton, profiting perhaps by his French experi- 
ences not to put trust in princes, foresaw this contingency 
and provided against it in the Fourth article, that should 
any circumstance arise to prevent carrying the plan into 
execution commissioners should be appointed to deter- 
mine whether the stipulated compensation had been 
earned. The " Descriptions " were prepared for sub- 
mission to the arbitrators and were actually read to them, 
as is shown by a note attached to a copy of the manuscript 
reading as follows: 

These papers I read to Sir Charles Blagden, Capt. Hamilton, 
the Rev. Dr. Cartwright and Alexander Davison, Esq., on the 
18th of August 1806 these gentlemen being named Arbitrators 
to settle my Claims on Government under a contract which 
I made with Mr. Pitt and Lord Melville — the two last named 
acting for me. 



90 ROBERT FULTON AND THE SUBMARINE 

The words " two last " refer, of course, to Dr. Cart- 
wright and Mr. Davison. The " Descriptions," there- 
fore, give Fulton's case as he saw it, and consequently 
are of intense interest and historical importance. 

His vision for the United States that the population 
would increase from 5,500,000, as it then was, to 
120,000,000 has already been almost realized, sooner, of 
course, than he expected, but the absence of colonies and 
lack of desire for them have hardly met an equally suc- 
cessful prophetic fate. Certainly he never foresaw 
Porto Rico, Panama, Samoa, Hawaii, Guam, the Philip- 
pines and other outlying possessions. 

What a delightful picture Pulton unconsciously pre- 
sents of the skillful and diplomatic way in which the 
British Ministry handled him from the beginning to the 
end! When the emissary, known only as " Mr. Smith," 
stated to Pulton that the Government wished to use the 
submarine against the French fleet, Fulton pointed out 
that it was not the part of wisdom so to do, that the 
British with their superiority in sea power had more to 
lose than to gain by developing such a weapon. In so 
doing, he but anticipated Earl St. Vincent who, bluff 
old sea-dog like so many of his profession to whom in- 
novations in naval warfare were anathema, exclaimed 
that " Pitt was the greatest fool that ever existed to 
encourage a mode of war which they who commanded 
the seas did not want, and which, if successful, would 
deprive them of it." 

" Mr. Smith " was very clever and was not put off by 
any such argument. He saw clearly that whether Eng- 
land needed the device or not, they must have control of 
the man who possessed the secret. He evidently felt sure 
of Fulton 's sentiments because he told him quite frankly 
that they wished him " out of France and in England." 

On the financial side, Pulton appears to have had a 
proper estimate of himself and the value of his devices. 



THE BRITISH CONTRACT 91 

The sum of £10,000 as a retainer would be no mean figure 
today, but owing to the difference in purchasing power 
it was comparatively a vastly greater figure in 1803. 
This retainer was in addition to his main fee or price 
for selling the explanation of his devices which he put 
at £100,000. The " Descriptions " read that he said 
" require " that sum. He first wrote " demand," which 
word he erased, but not sufficiently to obliterate it, and 
then wrote " require." 

The rating of the value of his devices as being equiva- 
lent to a ship-of-the-line, or battle ship as a capital ship 
is now called, is certainly ingenious and not unreason- 
able. If his devices had any value at all they would 
increase the effective power of the fleet by much more 
than the addition of one first-class vessel. 

But Fulton was dealing with men far abler than he 
in fixing values and making contracts. The negotiations 
were not broken off by abruptly refusing to pay the 
sums asked. That would have been a blunder that one 
selected for such a delicate mission would not be guilty 
of committing. The British representative apparently 
did not even suggest that the retainer was exorbitant, 
but only that it was " contrary to established rules " to 
pay in advance. Then, before giving an obligation to 
pay a sum commensurate with the value of the devices, 
the reasonable and unanswerable preliminary condition 
of an experimental demonstration was made a pre- 
requisite. 

The British diplomats unlike the French had avoided 
giving any offense to his amour propre. Though they re- 
fused to grant his financial requests, they succeeded in 
getting him to go to England, which was their main 
purpose. Not until they had him safe in London, did 
they take up the question of a contract. The original 
demand of £100,000 was reduced to £40,000. The re- 
tainer disappeared entirely except as it was represented 



92 ROBERT FULTON AND THE SUBMARINE 

by such portion of the £800 with which " Mr. Smith " 
was furnished in the first instance to pay his own and 
Fulton's expenses. In lieu of the reductions, there 
appears in the contract an agreement to pay a salary 
of £200 a month. How deliriously clever! To one in 
the straightened circumstances in which Fulton always 
had been and still was, for even now any surplus of 
income of which he might have been possessed, but of 
which there is no evidence, was swallowed up by his 
steamboat experiments, this monthly payment must have 
been of inestimable importance. It guaranteed him 
comfort and at last a substantial excess for his other 
work, because his submarine disbursements were to be 
met entirely by the government up to a maximum limit 
of £7,000. On the other hand, the Government held se- 
cure the man, who as an enemy they feared, and who 
as such was a constant source of worry. This result was 
obtained at a cost that was to them a trifling figure. 

Fulton appears to have concluded that his claim for 
£100,000 was perhaps too high because he voluntarily 
accepted the sum of £40,000 mentioned in the contract. 
Of this latter amount, he made to the arbitrators the 
ingenious suggestion that they pay him one-half in cash 
and the other half in an annuity based on his life, the 
annuity to be forfeit should the secret of his inventions 
in submarine warfare be divulged by him or his friends. 
It is regretted that Fulton did not disclose the names 
of his friends who were jointly interested with him, as 
they were probably the same who had financed his 
French experiments. 

Fulton's receipts on his own account amounted on 
balance to £13,391 . . 16 . . 10, leaving due as he claimed 
£1608.. 3.. 2, exclusive of any payment in part or 
whole of the £40,000. As it was, he did not do badly 
for two years' work. In addition the Government 
furnished £11,353 . . 3 . . 2 to repay his expenditures. 



Chapter VII 
EXPERIENCE IN ENGLAND 

Attack on fleet at Boulogne. Torpedoing of Dorothea (1805). 
Effect of Trafalgar on Fulton's work. Copies of " Drawings and 
Descriptions." Intent of government not to proceed with the sub- 
marine. Correspondence with Lord Hawkesbury and Mr. Pitt (1804). 
Commission of investigation appointed. Decision adverse to a 
submarine. Nevertheless Pitt signs contract. 

Two years had passed since the execution of the con- 
tract, during which time Fulton remained actively at 
work for the Government. He made an attack on the 
French fleet at Boulogne by means of his bombs but 
without success. He explained the cause, and probably 
correctly, but nevertheless he was charged with failure. 
Then he repeated the experiment with altered details 
in the mechanism and blew up a brig called the 
" Dorothea " on October 15, 1805, in the presence of 
Pitt and other officials. Success was again in sight, but 
only to vanish as quickly as it appeared. 

Six days after the destruction of the " Dorothea " 
came the great event that made secure England's control 
of the sea. On October 21st, Nelson destroyed the 
combined French and Spanish fleets in the decisive 
battle of Trafalgar. After that England had no need 
of submarines, torpedoes or Fulton. Her ships of oak 
were absolutely supreme, and she saw the force of Lord 
St. Vincent's criticism. 

The parallel between 1805 and 1922 is close. Then 
as now, and for similar reasons, England was, and is, 
opposed to the use of submarines in warfare. 

Mention was made above that the " Descriptions " he 
left in England had been copied. Fulton did this with 

93 



94 ROBERT FULTON AND THE SUBMARINE 

nearly all his important papers, and the copies were in 
manuscript, not letter press tissues. In this case the 
copy is in the possession of Edward C. Cammann, Esq., 
a great grandson, and bears several dates. To the main 
recital are added 41 pages of the same size paper, of 
which 12 pages contain material entitled " London 
August the 16th, 1806. Notes on observations of the 
Arbitrators, Particularly of Capt. Hamilton and Sir 
Charles Blagden in answer to objections stated by them." 
The balance are taken up by letters to Lord Grenville 
dated September the 3rd, and " Further considerations 
on the instantaneous and clockwork bombs." 

Before leaving England he also copied the drawings. 
These copies are on thin paper and are obviously trac- 
ings of the original " Drawings " that are on bristol 
board. In the course of time the tracings have become 
separated from the manuscript copy and are now the 
property of the New Jersey Historical Society at 
Newark, N. J. The latter plates are signed and dated 
1806, whereas the originals bear date 1804. In the 
eleventh clause of the contract Pulton stated that he 
had " deposited the drawing and plans of his submarine 
scheme of attack in the hands of a confidential friend 
with the view to their being delivered to the American 
Government in case of his death." As it is unlikely 
that Fulton made two sets of carefully prepared draw- 
ings in 1804, the evidence is presumptive that the plans 
above referred to are the ones that have recently been 
found in England and that form the basis of this book. 
The American Consul at the time, especially as he was 
a man of character and responsibility, would be the 
natural depositary for papers of semi-official character. 
Of the original drawings, numbers 1, 6, 8, 10 and 11 are 
unfortunately missing. Through the courtesy of the 
Historical Society their copies have been used to make 
good the deficiency. 



EXPERIENCE IN ENGLAND 95 

By the spring of 1806, Fulton had no misapprehensions 
as to the intent of the British Government. It was 
quite clear to him, as his letters show, that the authori- 
ties had decided not to use his devices for either sub- 
marine or torpedoes. It is also likely that he had 
received an intimation that his salary would be discon- 
tinued. Professional recognition was to be denied him, 
and unless he was also willing to forego hope for 
substantial pecuniary recompense he must have recourse 
to the arbitration clause of his contract. 

Whether the necessity for such action came as a sur- 
prise to Fulton, one thing is clear from his letters. In 
spite of a liberal contract, carrying a generous salary 
and full allowance for his disbursements, Fulton had 
not been happy from the very first. He was impatient 
at every delay and intolerant of every suggestion. He 
would not, or could not, understand that the progress 
of government affairs is always slow, and that no 
government official, no matter how exalted his rank, 
could make decision promptly without reference to his 
professional advisors. The similar errors in judgment 
that he committed in France he repeated in England. 

His letters, of which he wrote many, are from the 
very first couched in terms that it must be confessed 
are impatient, dictatorial and fault-finding, and never 
in that diplomatic and conciliatory form that has always 
been considered proper when addressing high govern- 
ment officials. This is particularly true when one re- 
members that he was corresponding with men holding 
office under George III, a period when those directing 
government did not hesitate to arrogate to themselves 
full autocratic powers and to regard all who were not 
in their own class as far removed inferiors. From 
others than their associates they were not inclined to 
accept dictation or brook carping criticism. That the 
several ministers with whom Fulton dealt tolerated the 



96 ROBERT FULTON AND THE SUBMARINE 

tone of his communications and overlooked his demands 
and complaints, is most striking testimony of the high 
regard in which they held his devices. Just so long as 
France was in a position to threaten their power on the 
ocean they intended to keep and hold Fulton safe. 

Although on May 23rd he had submitted his proposals 
to " Mr. Hammond," nevertheless immediately after- 
ward, and before his proposals could be examined, he 
decided to go over Lord Hawkesbury's head and seek 
a conference direct with the prime minister. On June 
6th, he wrote the following letter in which it will be 
noticed he explained the connection between his right 
and assumed names: 

Robert Fulton known by the name of Francis Author of 
Submarine Navigation to Mr. Pitt. 

Sir What I have to say on this subject and its prompt 
effects I hope you will find interesting, it possibly may be of 
the utmost importance in Seconding your Views if Soon 
adopted; it is at least of some moment that you feel a con- 
viction what I propose to demonstrate are facts and that your 
mind trace over the political consequences I beg 20 minuets 
conversation with you as soon as possible. 

I have the honor to be your most 

Obedient R Francis 
Storeys gate coffee house June the 6th 1804 

Before Pitt had reasonable opportunity to arrange 
for an interview, or Lord Hawkesbury to name a com- 
mission of investigation, Fulton wrote " Mr. Hammond " 
a tart letter of complaint just one month after he had 
arrived in London: 

Storeys Gate coffeehouse June the 22d 1804 
Mr. Hammond 
Sir 
The first day I had the pleasure of Seeing you I promised 
you candor, and Should time make me more known to your 
government they will find frankness one of the leading lines 



EXPERIENCE IN ENGLAND 97 

of my character, Now I candidly declare that having been here 
5 weeks in some degree like a prisoner, and at present as much 
in the dark as on the day of my arrival such a state of Sus- 
pence begins to grow extremely unpleasant 

The flattering and I believe candid promises of the late 
ministry induced me to come to this country and as yet I do 
not repent it but I beg to be informed if the present ministry 
mean to act up to the spirit of Lord Hawkesburies letter to me 
or what do they desire of me? 

On my part I came here to acquire wealth by communicating 
a new System to government which I do not hesitate to Say 
is to them more than one thousand times the value of any sum 
I may receive, I have pointed out the most Simple and 
honorable mode of determining whether this ascertion is fact, 
by means of a committee of scientific men, and now I beg to 
know will government agree to such decision and when Shall 
the discussion commence? or do they wish to decline all re- 
search into this business you will have the goodness to give me 
their ultimatum when I shall have the honor to see you on 
tuesday 

Believe me impressed with the highest 
respect for you your most obedient 

Robt Francis 

As a matter of fact, in spite of Fulton's impatience 
the government acted with commendable, if not extraor- 
dinary, celerity. A commission was named and it re- 
ported before June 27th, because on that date Fulton 
addressed to " Mr. Hammond " a review of their find- 
ings. The commission was composed of Sir Joseph 
Banks, President of the Royal Academy, the Hon. H. 
Cavendish, a well-known chemist, Sir Home Popham, 
Major Congreve, an inventor of projectiles, and Mr. 
John Rennie, one of England's leading engineers. 
Dickenson thinks that possibly the first two were sug- 
gested by Fulton. The subjoined letter to " Mr. Ham- 
mond " seems to contradict this, because in it he 
complains that they " passed judgment " (adversely) 
" without even desiring to have the details of operation." 



98 ROBERT FULTON AND THE SUBMARINE 

Had two of the five members been representing Fulton it 
is almost certain that they would have insisted on his be- 
ing invited to be present to explain his device. As it was, 
all they had were certain proposals made by a " Mr. 
Francis. ' ? 

Storeys Gate coffeehouse June the 27th 1804 
Mr. Hammond 

Sir 

I have examined the 5 Articles of the commission they 
seem to admit the possibility of making a Submarine Vessel 
but they conceive it impossible to use it to Advantage, hence 
recommend that it Should not be adopted, 

It possibly may be good policy in government not to adopt 
the whole of my system, it merits however their serious con- 
sideration whether they cannot draw great advantage from 
using part of it without risque to themselves, But that the 
whole of it is practicable and even in general cases easy executed 
can be proved, hence I am somewhat surprised that 5 Gentle- 
men of science Should pass Judgement on a work which rises 
out of the progress of improving Arts, without even desiring 
to have the details of Combination or operation, without hav- 
ing evidence of what has been done; and Judging from thence 
what maybe done, thereby leaving government as much un- 
informed of the truth and probable consequences of Submarine 
navigation as though I had never arrived; this is not the in- 
terest of Government your interest is to know the whole truth 
that you may see, clearly what maybe hoped or calculated upon 
from this discovery, I shall be happy to have an interview 
with Mr. Congreve, Mr. Cavendish and Sir home popham, but 
I can say little more to those gentlemen than endavour to 
convince them that the true Interest of Government, is to go 
into a thorough examination in order to arrive at truth; which 
examination I will put on the most liberal and honorable terms, 
you will have the goodness to desire a meeting as soon as 
possible 

I have the honor to be yours 
with respect 

Robert Francis 



EXPERIENCE IN ENGLAND 99 

The suggestion to have a conference with Major 
Congreve, Mr. Cavendish and Sir Home Popham was 
referred to Mr. Pitt and was objected to by him, as is 
shown by a memorandum among Fulton's papers: 

June the 28th 1804 

Saw Mr. Hammond this morning at 1 who informed me 
Mr. Pitt wished me to see the whole of the commission least 
it should offend Sir Joseph Banks & Mr. Rennie, Agreed 

If Fulton was impatient he was also indefatigable. 
However much one must condemn his lack of tact, one 
cannot help admiring his persistence. He wrote not 
only to " Mr. Hammond," but also to Sir Home Popham. 
In spite of the fault-finding tone of Fulton's letters, he 
and Sir Home Popham apparently remained friendly 
to the very end. As will have been noticed, it was the 
latter who witnessed the contract and perhaps was in- 
strumental in arranging for its execution. When 
Fulton found that the commission would not come to- 
gether again, he wrote to Sir Home a long letter under 
date of June the 30th. The letter is too long to quote 
fully but the following extracts will show its general 
nature : 

To Sir Home Popham 

Sir 

Were the Gentlemen who reported on my proposals to 
meet again I Should have addressed them as a commission. 
As that may not be the case I shall be happy to 
have some conversation with you on the subject of submarine 
navigation 

If Gentlemen were Actuated by what the conceived Patriotism 
in rejecting every investigation of this Subject in order to keep 
it in oblivion as much as possible I conceive the measure not 
effectual, what has been proved And is Supported with Energy, 
cannot be consealed but by the consent of the Author; but 
perhaps this was not the motive, for deciding without 
evidence 



100 ROBERT FULTON AND THE SUBMARINE 

Now Sir permit me to make some observations on the real 
patriotism connected with this business 

If what I Say of submarine navigation and attack be true, 
if fleets can be destroyed by this means without any human 
foresight preventing it; is it not important that Government 
should Know how and by what means, if on investigation you 
should found it all false and visionary would not the infirma- 
tion be pleasing to government and cost nothing? If true is 
not the wise policy to take amicable measures to prevent it 
doing any injury to this country. Suppose the decision of the 
commitee should necessitate me to seek fortune else where by 
disclosing my system it might fineally appear that such a deci- 
sion was the most unpatriotic act a citizen could commit, Sir 
I give you my honor I have come here with the most friendly 
disposition towards the government And I have not one 
sinister feeling the interest of this nation is not to adopt the 
submarine vessel they government aught to know what it is 
and its probable consequences 

When lie speaks of the most friendly disposition 
towards the government, it is interesting and perhaps 
amusing to recall that in 1798 he wrote to Barras, then 
the guiding spirit of the Directorate, urging the destruc- 
tion of British ships of war, saying: " Le commerce 
enorme de PAngleterre, ainsi que son Gouvernement 
monstreux, depend de sa marine militaire." Times 
had changed! 

To " Mr. Hammond " he wrote begging the latter to 
persuade " Mr. Pitt to name one person in whome he 
has full confidence, to treat or arrange with me." 

Pulton perhaps felt that the action of the commission 
was not intended to be final and therefore it was for 
him to suggest other ways for passing on his devices. 
If so, he was justified by the fact that in spite of the 
adverse report of the commission of which Mr. Pitt 
must have been informed, the latter accorded Fulton an 
interview on July 20th at which Sir Home Popham, who 
had just voted against the submarine, was present. An 
account of this interview Fulton committed to paper. 



EXPERIENCE IN ENGLAND 101 

20th of July 1804 

Breakfasted with Mr. Pitt at his country house Near Putny 
common, Sir Home Popham only present Lord Melville ex- 
pected but did not arrive, after my being Introduced Mr. Pitt 
demanded of Sir Home if he and Mr. Francis had agree'd on 
terms Sir Home replied in the affirmative and told Mr. Pitt 
his perusal and Signature were only wanting, he then read 
and Signed the papers, delivering them to Sir Home, with 
orders to call on Lord Melville for his signature, 

At Breakfast some general principles of Submarine naviga- 
tion and mode of attack explained, which appeared to give 
pleasure; and make a Strong impression. When Sir Home 
Popham went into an a joining Room, Mr. Pitt, remarked that 
this is an extreordinary invention which seemed to go to the 
distruction of all fleets; I replied that It was invented With 
that View, And as I had no design to desceive him or the 
government I did not hesitate to give it as my opinion that 
this invention would lead to the total annihilation of the existing 
System of Marine war, 

But in its present state of perfectionment Said Mr. Pitt those 
who command the seas will be benefited by it while the minor 
maritime powers can draw no advantag from what is Now 
known, Answer, true unless plunging or submarine Vessels 
were introduced into practice; that it probably would be some 
years before any nation could bring to perfection such a Vessel, 
that it is not the interest of the British government to use 
such Vessels that consequently there was not at present much 
danger to be apprehended from that part of my System; at 
all events there would be, time to fit future politics to future 
circumstances, if at present the french preperations can be de- 
stroyed by Submarine attack, it will convince Bonapart and 
the whole world that frenchmen never can make a descent on 
England for any future fleet prepared by them may be burnt 
in like manner — 

Little more passed it was agree'd to make the Submarine 
attack on Boulogne as soon as the engines could be prepared, 
returned to town with an appointment to meet at the same 
place on the following Week, 

From the above it will be seen that Pulton and Sir 
Home had come to an agreement between June 30, the 
date of Fulton's letter, and July 20. 



102 ROBERT FULTON AND THE SUBMARINE 

While at work on his submarine he did not permit 
his political ardor to cool. He has left a copy of a 
letter about 2600 words in length written " to the right 
Honorable Lord Viscount Melville/' dated London, 
Jany the 20th, 1805, giving his " Observations on Bona- 
parte's pacific Communications." This long letter is in 
the flamboyant style that Fulton used when writing on 
political topics. After dilating upon economies that 
would flow from peace and how such savings from war 
disbursements might be turned to establishing canals, 
iron works, manufactures and improving agriculture, he 
speaks of Napoleon: 

Humanity would commend the Man, who turned his talents 
to such usefull works provided he should use the fruits of it 
humainly, but it is a question whether, Bonaparte would do 
So, his insatiable ambition and extravagant Ideas, do not war- 
rent so much confidence in him, Raised from nothing by military 
talents and a combination of extriordinary events, he is intoxi- 
cated with success, adulation has become his daily food as 
necessary to his happiness as high seasoning to a vitiated appe- 
tite, his mind is perpetually working on schemes, which he 
thinks will give great Eclat, he seeks to be ranked by the 
future historian above Ceasar and Charlemagne, his principle 
is that future ages, never take into consideration the miseries 
which accompany war, they only listen to the brilliant actions 
of the Chief 



Chapter VIII 
NEGOTIATIONS WITH CABINET 

Fulton begins to have doubts of accomplishment (1805). Corre- 
spondence with Mr. Pitt and Lord Castlereagh reciting his contract, 
rights and claims. Pitt dies (Jan., 1806) and Fulton begins anew with 
Lord Grenville and Lord Howick. 

By midsummer of 1805, Fulton was not making the 
progress that he had expected, and again we find him 
writing letters that could not have been helpful in 
advancing his cause. 

Sackville Street Piccadilly No 13 
July the 18th 1805 
To the Right Honorable William Pitt 

Sir 
I have waited till you were releeved from the fateague of 
attending Parliament before I would urge you on my particular 
business, on which I have written to Lord Barham twice with- 
out an answer, which with other circumstances have led me 
to believe that government do not intend to prosecute my 
system of attack Whatever may be their decision it is inter- 
esting for me to know it As I have other and previous engage- 
ments of much magnitude which call for my attention, and 
do not warrant my loosing time; hence I hope you will have 
the goodness to mention an hour when I may have the honor 
to wait on you that a plan of Acting may be arranged or the 
business as relates to me put into such a train as to be speedily 
and finally setteled 

I have made the machines and exhibited to Sir Home Popham 
all that I know of them; the mode of using them and their 
effects, and if it is thought proper to use them; it can be done 
as well without my aid as with it As to the submarine Vessel 
my opinion ever has been that it would not be good policy 
in this government to introduce it into practice, consequently 
you will not want me to construct one, But I have all the 

103 



104 ROBERT FULTON AND THE SUBMARINE 

drawings to Shew that everything which has been said of it is 
practicable and which drawings according to contract, are to 
be delivered to such persons as you may think proper to name 
Under these circumstances I wish to sail for America about 
the first of September, I Shall therefore hope that you will 
have the goodness, to appoint an early hour when I may have 
the honor to wait on you 

I have the honor to be your most 

Obedient Robt Francis 

Before the year was finished the tone of his letters 
became more bitter. He was no longer giving the 
government advice upon how they were to treat Bona- 
parte, but was deeply engaged in fighting for what he 
considered his own rights. The stilted style gave place 
to a more simple and direct form, in which he made 
no attempt to disguise his irritation as is shown by two 
letters written to Lord Castlereagh: 

London 
Ibbotsons hotel Vere Street Oxford Road 
December 13th 1805 
Lord Viscount Castlereagh 
My Lord 

I have the honor to send you reflections without disguise 
with what I conceive a fair and honorable proposal for a final 
settlement with government you will have the goodness to 
consider them and let me have the honor of your decision as 
soon as possible 

With all respects I have the honor 
to be your Lordships most Obedient 

Robt Francis — 

London December the 13th 1805 
Lord Viscount Castlereagh 
My Lord 

At various times I have been necessitated to say much on 
the importance of forming the Submarine mode of warfare 
into a regular and permanent System, As there is now full proof 
of the powerful effects of the carcasses, and the great execution 



NEGOTIATIONS WITH CABINET 105 

which maybe done with them, a well organized mode of acting 
should be adopted, 

System in this business is the true and best Interest of govern- 
ment, I must also beg leave to state that in System, I have a 
great and important Interest, for without it there is little hope 
of my acquiring the emolument from my invention which I 
have a right to expect, 

When I discovered this mode of destroying ships of war, I 
considered it as the basis of an ample fortune, And every ex- 
periment I have made has confirmed me in my opinion of its 
immense importance, and my high interest In it, Therefore 
while I frankly give you my opinion on what I conceive the 
best interest of government I must be excused if I begin to 
insist on what I conceive my personal rights 

Lord Melville with whome I contracted was Very friendly 
to my enterprise and I have now no doubt would have wrought 
it into a form to produce the greatest possible effect, Since his 
leaving the Admiralty I have waited from month to month, 
hoping Lord Barham would follow Lord Melvilles measures, 
but I have reason to believe he disapproves of the whole plan 
or is indifferent to it which is the same thing in effect, how- 
ever as to my private Interest and the situation In which I 
Stand In this country I consider that of little consequence, 
though it may be of some importance to the nation, 

My contract states a certain reward for every Vessel of an 
enemy which shall be destroyed by my engines in 14 years 
and His Majesty's Dockyards and Arsenals are to furnish me 
the necessary means of applying the carcasses to the destruction 
of the enemy hence if they do not give me reasonable and 
efficient means, government do not fulfill their part of the con- 
tract, the enemy cannot be attacked nor destroyed however 
good and simple the engines may be, and my time is consumed 
to no purpose; 

As a Neutral in this country I cannot have a command so 
as to direct my own enterprise, nor do I desire it nor have I a 
right to press my plans and opinions on the Admiralty, but 
I have a right to convert the result of my studies to my own 
emolument And having demonstrated their certain effects to 
the conviction of every reflecting mind I cannot undertake to 
contend with opinions or prejudices nor wait the indeterminate 
time which maybe necessary to produce a conviction of their 
utility to this country, I must therefore in justice to myself 



106 ROBERT FULTON AND THE SUBMARINE 

and in conformity to all my engagements with this govern- 
ment beg leave to state my final resolution, The Submarine 
mode of warfare must be organized so as to render it effecient, 
or I must abandon it and direct my attention to other pursuits 
equally Interesting to me, The principles on which I came to 
this country were changed from the first week of my arrival 
I came by the invitation of Lord Hawkesbury to satisfy min- 
isters as to the truth of whether I had or had not invented 
a destructive engine which might be wielded, either for or 
against the fleets of this country, and on proving that the en- 
gine has powers superior to the methods at present in practice, 
I was to receive an adequate reward, leaving government to 
use or bury the invention in oblivion as they might think proper, 

After what has been done I hope that the power of the car- 
casses, and the certain annihilation which must be the conse- 
quence of their right application will not be doubted, arrange- 
ment and ordinary courage are only wanting to produce the 
most brilliant success, and were it prosecuted according to the 
terms of my contract, I should acquire an immense fortune, 
the destruction of 30 Ships of the enemies line would entitle 
me to half their Value or more than a Million Sterling, hence 
were the System pursued to the annihilation of the enemies 
fleets, and it should be practised to their annihilation or aban- 
doned such would be my reward, but I have no such Ambitious 
Views, tranquility and a much less sum will content me 

I have now directed the construction of a store of engines, 
shewn their incalculable effects and the simple mode of using 
them, arrangement time and perseverance are only necessary 
to destroy every Ship of the Enemy, but as in this part of the 
business I can be of no use I do not at present see that I can 
be of any further material service In this system of warfare, 

I therefore propose as the most equitable arrangement be- 
tween his Majesty's Ministers and me to revert to the prin- 
ciples which brought me to this country and finally settle with 
them, 

Before I came to this country Ministers were desirous of 
knowing whether my invention was of a kind to be feared this 
has been proved in the affermetive, they have possessed them- 
selves of it, may use it as they think proper and Averted all 
danger which might be apprehended this consideration alone 
is sufficient to justify ministers in granting me the terms 
which I shall propose and which being small compared, with 



NEGOTIATIONS WITH CABINET 107 

the prospect of emolument before me will be infinately better 
terms for the nation than my existing contract 

My Lord in making this statement I beg you to be assured 
that I am nowise discontented, with what has passed nor with 
the time lost, It has been caused by the natural Suit of Idea 
and demonstration necessary to open the mind to a new subject. 
And although I feel a high sense of my independence of the 
immense and incalculable consequences of my discovery, of 
the right which I have to dispose of it as I think proper and 
convert it to my own emolument or Ambition, In doing which 
I might change the whole politics of this country and even 
Europe * yet on a fair and honorable arrangement with this 
government there is nothing to be feared from me, I am per- 
fectly satisfied with the conduct of Lord Melville Mr. Pitt and 
your Lordship but Seeing that you have prejudices to combat 
and many difficulties to encounter, feeling also that I can be 
of no further use, and having other and previous engagements 
which I must In honor fulfill I wish a final and equitable settle- 
ment and on this business I beg to have the honor of seeing 
your Lordship and Mr. Pitt as soon as possible, 

I have the honor to be your 
Lordships most Obedient 

Robt. Francis 

* This will appear strong and extraordinary assertion for a 
simple individual, but if necessary I will prove such to be the 
natural consequence of the invention if prosecuted to the extent 
of its powers with the means which I possess. I alude to the 
Submarine boat or Vessel 

The following are the terms I propose the Sum and Conditions 
are Similar to those Specified in my letters sent by the agent 
of government from paris to Lord Hawkesbury 

Terms 

That for leaving France and coming to England I Should 
receeive ten thousand pounds 

That for clearly demonstrating that Ships of war can be 
destroyed by my engines with more ease and less risque than 
by any method now in practice I demanded th Value of one 
first rate line of battle Ship or one hundred thousand pounds 



108 ROBERT FULTON AND THE SUBMARINE 

With this demand the following Ideas were associated, First 
that I Should not exersise or be the cause of exersising this 
invention against the fleets of great Britain, Second that by 
not Shewing the Mechanism of the Submarine boat and adopt- 
ing only a part of my plan, this government might draw advan- 
tage from it Government can now Judge whether it is im- 
portant that I should never be the means of using this invention 
against the British marine whether it is their interest to grant 
these my original terms and whether this proposal is extrava- 
gant considering the demonstrations I have made and the power 
I possess to render my invention Infinately more productive, 
In this proposal as it Stands I See that Ministers Will have 
one difficulty which is a Security that I Shall not be induced 
to use this invention against the british fleets after having re- 
ceeived the sum Specified, there is but one way to give such 
security that is to put it in my power and make it my interest 
to remain tranquil or occupy myself in other pursuits equally 
honorable and important to my country for this purpose I pro- 
pose to receive Sixty thousand pounds and my present Salary 
of two thousand four hundred pounds per annum for life, the 
Annuity to be forfeited if I break the treaty — I have already 
receeved ten thousand to be considered part of the above Sum, 

My Lord I conceive this proposition fair you have the In- 
terest of England to consider I have my own, I love tranquility 
and science in my chamber, As a man of honor my principle 
Is to fulfill my part of all my engagements before writing this 
letter I have well considered the subject on all its bearings 
and made up my mind to the general principles here proposed 

And I assure you that great as this demand may appear to 
be I am not much interested in its success, for by agreeing to 
let my invention lie dormant I feel that I abandon a Subject 
in which there is the most Philosophic and honorable fame and 
perhaps the interest of my country which is dearer to me than 
all considerations of wealth, However I hope America And 
England will so well understand their Mutual Interest, that 
it will not be necessary for me to introduce my Invention into 
practice for our own defence And I have no desire to use it 
to the Advantage of any other Nation 

I am Sir & & <fc 

R Fulton 



NEGOTIATIONS WITH CABINET 109 

Fulton was not content to submit his demands to Lord 
Castlereagh only, but as on other occasions he went over 
the head of his correspondent and appealed to higher 
authority. In this case he forwarded a copy of the 
letter with some additional thoughts to the Prime 
Minister, Mr. Pitt: 

London Jany 6th 1806 
Mr. Pitt 

Sir 
That you may have an opportunity before you come to 
Town, to Judge of what I conceive my rights And the govern- 
ments Interest, I have taken the liberty to send you a Copy 
of my letter to Lord Castlereagh you will no doubt at the first 
thought consider my demand great, but there is one reflection 
which Usually accompanies all negotiations, whether between 
Nations or Individuals, that is the power which each possess 
to support certain claims, Now in this business I will not 
disguise that I feel the power which I possess which is no less 
than to be the means if I think proper of giving to the world 
a System which must from necessity sweep all military marines 
from the ocean, by giving to the weaker maritime powers Ad- 
vantages over the stronger which the Strong cannot prevent, 
this power I felt before and when I came to this country but 
I did not think right to insist upon it nor could I expect min- 
isters to believe it till I had given them sufficient demonstra- 
tion This is a power which is not possessed by even Bonapart, 
It is concentered in me and two friends who are governed by 
my success in this country 

Hence on Such power I have a right to set what price I think 
proper, but I hope I am not of a disposition to abuse the ad- 
vantages which the Arts have given me either by unreasonable 
demands or any illiberal act. In my present terms I have not 
raised the Sum first proposal to Lord Hawkesbury; And It must 
be observed, I did not come here so much with a View to do 
you any material good as to Shew that I had the power and 
might in the exersise of my plan to acquire fortune, do you an 
Infinate Injury, which Ministers if they thought proper might 
prevent by an arrangement with me, — 

I did however Zealously attempt to be of Service, I have 
proved that Infinate good or Injury may be done. I have 



110 ROBERT FULTON AND THE SUBMARINE 

written to Lord Barham two letters without receiving any 
Answer. I can easy conceive he has not had time to consider 
the position in which I Stand nor my Invention in all its con- 
sequences and might not think An Answer of any importance, 
However it is time that he Should See it in all its consequences 
and Judge of the propriety of a fair and honorable arrangement 
with me, 

Although Sir you will be overwhelmed with business on your 
coming to Town yet I hope you will not let this escape your 
memory 

I have the honor to be your most 
Obedient and Very humble servant 

Robert Francis 
The Right Honbl 
William Pitt Bath 

The letter to Lord Castlereagh is in the best form of 
any of Fulton's communications to the government in 
spite of the thinly veiled suggestion of a threat in the 
closing lines, but Lord Gastlereagh must have been 
amused to learn that the foreign inventor, then without 
fame or position, was " perfectly satisfied with the con- 
duct of Lord Melville, Mr. Pitt and your Lordship." 
He, whose conduct was approved and from whose deci- 
sion Pulton practically appealed in advance without time 
being given to render it, was a most important character 
in British politics at that time. 

Lord Castlereagh lived between 1769 and 1822. He 
was the son of the Earl of Londonderry, and as his 
father was still living during the period under con- 
sideration, the son was known by the courtesy title of 
Viscount Castlereagh. Instrumental in securing the 
union with Ireland he forfeited the King's support by 
urging emancipation for Roman Catholics, and to such 
an extent that the resignation of the Pitt government 
was forced. Castlereagh accepted a position in the new 
cabinet and on Pitt's return to power in May, 1804, con- 
tinued in office, and in 1805 became Secretary for War. 



NEGOTIATIONS WITH CABINET 111 

It was to that official, therefore, that Fulton wrote the 
above letters. 

On the 23rd of January, 1806, Pitt died and was suc- 
ceeded in office by Lord Grenville. This necessitated 
new approaches by Pulton. Charles Grey became First 
Lord of the Admiralty in the ministry then formed. 
His father, Sir Charles Grey of Howick, had served 
as a British General in America during the revolution 
and was raised to the peerage as Lord Grey of Howick 
in 1801. In April, 1806, he was created Earl Grey, when 
his son adopted the courtesy title of Lord Howick. 
Fulton's letters, therefore, to Mr. Gray (misspelled for 
Grey) and to Lord Howick are to the same person. 

During February, Fulton recommenced his efforts for 
a settlement by writing Mr. Grey. At the same time he 
enclosed copies of letters previously sent to Mr. Pitt, 
assuming that Mr. Grey, being new to the office, it was 
necessary to acquaint him with what had gone before. 

Ibbotsons Hotel Vere Street Oxford 
Road Feby 22d 1806 
Mr Gray 

Sir 

In my letters to Mr. Pitt the copies of which I had the 
honor to present you there are some Assertions on the powers 
of submarine attack which men in general will be inclined to 
doubt, few men will believe that any plan can be carried to 
Such perfection as totally to annihilate the present system of 
Military marines and maritime war. And I presume most 
men in my Situation would endavour to conseal this part of 
the Business from every member of a Government the conse- 
quence of which depends on her marine. 

But as I have been invited to this country to give Ministers 
full information on the nature and powers of submarine At- 
tack, I have been disposed from the first candidly to explain 
every principle and mode of practice which Occured to me on 
the subject, And then leave Ministers to Judge for themselves 
Whether fleets can be destroyed by my means, and how much 
of my System they may practice with safety, or what part of 



112 ROBERT FULTON AND THE SUBMARINE 

it conseal from public knowledge I therefore conceive it the 
most prudent and prompt measure, first to go into a full and 
Satisfactory examination of the principles of Submarine navi- 
gation and attack, their practicability and consequences and 
from such investigation judge of what this nation has to hope 
or fear from the System; and on what ground I found my 
Claims; such a mode of proceeding will place this Subject clear 
before the mind I therefore Advise that you will have the 
goodness to Invite such of your friends as you conceived best 
acquainted with Mathematical and Physical Subjects I will 
meet them and explain the whole Machinery and mode of 
operating and from their decision ministers can Judge how to 
Act This I conceive necessary for every reason, first to Obtain 
a clear knowledge of facts; Second to Judge of the policy of 
practicing my System; and third whether My deamnds are 
reasonable; and which demand, I presume must be setteled 
by the privy council — 

To go into the investigation it is not Necessary to have Many 
persons 3 or 4 will be Suffecient for the less number who be- 
come acquainted with the Mechanism of the submarine Vessel, 
the less it will be talked of or become publicly known, 

I hope Sir you will form such a committee as soon as possible 
and when formed favor me with a line, — 

I have the honor to be your 
Most Obedient and Very 
humble servant 

Robt Fulton 

P. S. Would not Lord Sidmouth Lord St. Vincent, Mr. Wind- 
ham and Yourself Suffice for the investigation? 

The Right Honorable 
Charles Gray 
First Lord of the Admiralty 
& & & 

The duties of new office probably occupied Mr. Grey's 
time to the exclusion of coming to a settlement with 
Fulton. At any rate the latter writes again: 



NEGOTIATIONS WITH CABINET 113 

March the 17th 1806 
Mr. Gray 
Sir 

After the Various changes of Ministers and Measures which 
have kept me in this country for near two years and the time 
fast approaching when I must Absolutely sail for America you 
will excuse me for Urging that my arrangements with this gov- 
ernment may be finally Setteled. In the copies of my letters 
to Mr. Pitt which I had the honor to present you my Ideas of 
the powers and Consequences of Submarine navigation and 
Attack are fully explained and without disguise the question 
therefore between government and me appears to be Simply 
this have I proved Sufficient to merit the 40,000 mentioned in 
the contract? if there be Still doubts on this point it is Stipu- 
lated to be setteled by arbitration this is Justice founded on 
the contract, but added to this Is it not the Interest of govern- 
ment to finally settle with me and then use my mode of attack 
as they think proper,? I beg you will have the goodness to 
mention an early hour when we may have a conversation on 
this subject and fix a plan for a just honorable and prompt 
Settlement, let it be morning or evening or any period most 
convenient to you when there may be suffeceent time for ample 
Explanations, 

I am & 

R Fulton, 

Fulton's impatience always inclined him to correspond 
simultaneously with more than one official, and particu- 
larly so if thereby he could reach one higher in authority. 
Although his negotiations begun through Lord Howick 
were apparently proceeding satisfactorily, he forestalled 
a submission by the latter to Lord Grenville by writing 
to the latter himself. As this letter gives a review of 
Fulton's claims and forms the basis for arbitrators who 
were subsequently appointed, it is of peculiar interest. 



Chaptek IX 
FURTHER CORRESPONDENCE 

Demand for arbitrators. Further correspondence with Lords 
Grenville and Howick. 

London May the 5th 1806 
To the Right Honorable 

Lord Grenville 
My Lord 

Lord Howick will have a conversation with your Lord- 
ship on the mode of finally setteling with me, As the papers 
which I have from time to time written to Successive Ministers 
and to his Lordship may not be at hand at the time of such 
conversation, And as a right understanding of submarine Navi- 
gation with all its probable consequences Is I conceive of much 
importance to this government I beg your Lordships atten- 
tion to the following observations which shall be as concise as 
possible, And I hope it will be admitted by your Lordship 
that whatever may be the effect of any Scientific discovery 
on the interest or politics of this country, It is better his 
Majesty's Ministers should be acquainted with it than remain 
uninformed, And I conceive Investigation the more necessary 
when it is considered that discoveries in the Sciences have from 
age to age changed the whole art of war and the politics of 
nations That being slow in the operation their consequences 
cannot be traced by ordinary men, who being creatures of habit 
and Guided by existing things consider new discoveries as 
Visionary or trivial Such were the Ideas of the Inventions of 
printing, gunpowder and the Mariners Compass had their 
authors Shown their consequences they would not have been 
believed by their Contemporaries 

So my Lord when I say that I have discovered a mode of 
attacking Ships of war which if prosicuted to its Ultimate powers 
and rendered fameliar to all nations must from necessity de- 
stroy the existing system of military marines and alter the whole 
politics of Europe I do not expect to be believed by any but 
men of penitrating Judgement and Sound Sense nor do I ex- 

114 



FURTHER CORRESPONDENCE 115 

pect them to believe me untill they have see the whole of the 
engines and had ample proof of the simple mode of using them 
and their certain destructive effects Now my Lord if this be 
a truth it is certainly important to know it, if it be false the 
conviction that it is so will be equally important for then there 
will be nothing to guard against, hence to place this Subject 
in its true light I have proposed to Lord Howick to form a 
committee compossed of Your Lordship Lord Moria Lord 
Sydmouth Lord Erskin Mr Fox Mr. Windham Sir george Shee 
and Alexander Davison Esqr. the members of this committee 
are all friends to government to them I will exhibit all the 
machinery and modes of using it and Reasoning from Experi- 
ments already made endavour to Shew what may be done leav- 
ing to the committee to Judge whether my preceding assertion 
is true And for Such communications I make no demand, but 
Should the committee find my assertion supported by facts 
It will be acknowledged that I have a high Interest in this 
produce of my own mind and that I have a right to prosecute 
it to the acquirement of fortune or fame, I have mentioned 
to Lord Howick my Views on fortune, the committee will Judge 
whether it be the interest of government to acceed to my pro- 
posal and whether the terms Specified are the best security 
which I can give that this subject shall not be further prosi- 
cuted by me My Lord I beg you to be Assured that I have 
every disposition to act in the most liberal and honorable 
manner towards this government At the Same time I must 
Acknowledge that I never will abandon my private interest 
Till satisfied by specific Stipulations and I hope my Lord that 
this fair proposal to investigate all the principles and this un- 
disguised mode of Acting will inspire your Lordship and Every 
member of the committee with a confidence that what I agree 
to Shall be scrupeleusly and honorably adheared to. Should 
your Lordship require any private conversations on this sub- 
ject I shall be happy to wait on you at an appointed hour. 

I am my Lord your Lordships 
Most obedient and Very humble 
Servant 

Robert Fulton 

P. S. Just as I was finishing this letter I was informed by 
Mr. Tucker that Lord Howick and your Lordship had decided 
not to have any thing to do with the submarine boat My Lord 



116 ROBERT FULTON AND THE SUBMARINE 

I never wished this government to introduce such boats into 
practice But it is Stipulated in my contract that if for any 
reason government do not think proper to practice my mode 
of war Arbitrators Shall be appointed and if it appears to the 
majority that enemies Vessels can be Destroyed by my means 
at less expence and Risque than by any method now in practice 
I shall receive 40,000 £ hence as the Submarine boat makes 
part of my System it must come under the consideration of the 
arbitrators. 

Previous publications dealing with this portion of 
Fulton's career have inclined to the view that considera- 
tion of his plan for a submarine boat had been discarded 
soon after he came to England. From the postscript 
to the above letter it appears that Fulton was not in- 
formed that the submarine had been rejected until May, 
1806, or two years after his arrival in England. Un- 
doubtedly it was held under serious and secret con- 
sideration. Even if Fulton did not construct such a 
boat for the British Government, the latter reserved the 
right so to do until it was decided to drop all thought 
of adoption, or even of further investigation of any form, 
of under-water attack. 

On May 14, Fulton again writes to Lord Grenville: 

May the 14th 1806 
My Lord: 

Since writing to your Lordship on the 10th Inst Lord Howick 
has agreed to decide on my Contract by arbitrators, I now 
beg you Lordship will have the goodness to give orders that 
my accounts which are with Mr. King may be immediately 
setteld. They have no connection with the final decision on 
my contract they have been 4 months moving from office to 
office and now wait your Lordships decision 

My Lord when I was Invited to this country I was led to 
believe that every reasonable attention would be paid to my 
demonstrations propositions and claims. I was therefore dis- 
posed from the first to do everything in the most liberal and 
open manner. I have uniformly acted on this principle And 
I have hoped for equal attention and liberality from each of 



FURTHER CORRESPONDENCE 117 

His Majestys ministers with whome I may have to act. My 
Lord mine is no common Case; Tis my Sincere wish and the 
real interest of this government which I will hereafter explain 
that everything relative to this business may be setteled in the 
most friendly manner hoping to have the pleasure of arranging 
with your Lordship on this principle 

I have the honor to be your Lordships 
most obedient and Very humble Servant 

Robt Fulton 
The Right Honble 
Lord Grenville 

From the above it appears that his previous requests 
to Lords Howick and Grrenville for the appointing of 
arbitrators had met with a generally favorable response. 
But sometimes diplomats agree " in principle " and 
then avoid arriving at a settlement of such inconvenient 
things as defined details. 

There still remained much letter writing, threats and 
begging before the arbitrators were actually named, 
during which time Pulton came very near giving public 
proof that he had lost his temper. 

More than three weeks after Lord Howick had in- 
formed Pulton that he had decided to submit the con- 
tract to arbitration, nothing had been done as shown 
by the following letter to Lord Grrenville 's secretary: 

London June the 6th 
Ibbotsons Hotel Vere Street Oxford Road 
Mr. King 
Sir 

Yesterday Lord Howick informed me that Lord Grenville 
had mentioned to him two or three persons whome he thought 
fit arbitrators. I beg you will speak to his Lordship to decide 
on two as soon as possible which decision becomes urgent in 
consequence of my being under the necessity of sailing for 
America About the 10th of July — 

That this business may proceed with the least possible delay, 
and trouble to Ministers I Conceive the best mode will be to 



118 ROBERT FULTON AND THE SUBMARINE 

name one person first who with my friend Mr. Davison or Mr 
McArthur will [first] arrange the terms of the Arbitration bond: 
then they being arbitrators [ proceed ] associated to two others 
[Can proceed] can proceed to the examination of the Machinery 
the principles of application and a decision on the contract. 
I beg Sir to hear from you on this Subject as Soon as possible 

I am etc 

R Fulton 

On June 17th lie again writes to Mr. King: 

g . Ibbotsons Hotel June the 17th 1806 

Anxious to Know the progress of my affairs and [conceiving 
that] conceiving that there can be no objection or obstacle to 
prevent the immediate naming of Arbitrators on the part of 
government I will take the liberty of waiting on you tomorrow 
between the hours of 11 and 12 to have a few minuets con- 
versation on this subject. 

I am Sir your most obedient & 
Very humble Servant 

King Esqr - Robt Fulton 

No reply having been received within two days, his 
impatience and irritation overcame his control of his 
nerves and on June 19th, he takes pen in hand to begin 
the inditing of three letters. Considering that of these 
letters one is addressed to the chief of the most power- 
ful government then existing, a government that con- 
trolled the affairs of the world, another to the member 
of the cabinet in charge of the Navy, and both written 
by a man who had been for two years and still was in 
the employ of the government, they leave unbroken few 
rules for the proper conduct of official correspond- 
ence. At this time Fulton's feelings were like the 
actions of a series of his bombs — a state of prolonged 
and violent explosions. 

One of the letters is addressed to Mr. King, whose 
first name Fulton does not seem to know, the second to 



FURTHER CORRESPONDENCE 119 

Lord Grenville, and the third a covering letter to 
Lord Howick. The corrections show that Fulton spent 
some time in composing these communications, a task of 
no small difficulty in view of Pulton's position and the 
disturbed condition of his temper. The two dates on 
the Grenville letter indicate that Fulton slept on it for 
one night, while the lapse into his earlier degree of dis- 
regard of orthography is perhaps further evidence of 
his emotions. The delay of one day in transmittal saved 
him, as similar delays have saved others. Perhaps 
some kind friend came to his guidance on the morrow, 
or perhaps a night's rest had calmed somewhat his 
troubled spirit; whatever the reason, according to the 
footnote to the Howick letter he refrained from 
forwarding any of the three. 

It is not difficult to picture what Lord Grenville 's 
outburst would have been had he received Pulton's letter 
of June 19th-20th. The man who had not feared to 
break with the all-powerful Pitt, and who had become 
premier of England, would hardly have taken kindly 
to Fulton's ultimatum nor his threat to write a letter 
to The Times. 

Mr. King 
Sir 
by your silence on my Several letters permit me to say 
that you have treated me in a most ungentleman like 
manner; Inclosed is a letter for Lord Grenville which you will 
please to read and present to his Lordship, by it you will per- 
ceive the line I mean to pursue I have more favours to bestow 
on this government than Ministers will ever bestow on me and 
I am now about to put that, to the proof should they drive me 
to such necessity. 

I am Sir your most 

Obedient R Fulton 
King Esq Secretary to Lord Grenville 
At the Treasury 
June the 19th 1806. London 



120 ROBERT FULTON AND THE SUBMARINE 

June the 20th 1806 
My Lord 

I wrote to your Lordship on the 5th 10th and 14th of May, 
And to Mr. King on the 30th of May & 6th of June, to which 
letters I have not received any answer nor assurance, that my 
[business] Claims on government shall be speedily and honor- 
ably setteled. As, time presses hard upon me for for three 
months past I informed Lord Howick and your Lordship that 
I should Sail for america In July, I am driven from neces- 
sity to urge in the strongest manner that my concerns with 
governmt may be immediately and finally setteled, hence Should 
my rights Continue to be treated with silent indifference, the 
letters which I may hereafter have occasion to write to your 
Lordship must from necessity be through the medium of the 
public prints, But I yet hope that so disagreeable an alterna- 
tive may be avoided And that your Lordship will se the Jus- 
tice and propriety of immediately naming your Arbitrators and 
of their immediately proceeding to a discision on my Claims, 

My Lord Much [and Silent] experience has made me conscous 
of the powers of the engines I possess. I am also sensible of 
my own resources and means of Action I convinced the late 
Ministers of them they felt them and treated me with that 
attention Justice and civility which should satisfy a rational 
man. [And] Since the new Ministry has been formed I have 
repeatedly offered to your Lordship and Lord Howick to Sub- 
mit the whole of my Assertions, demenstrations and claims to 
Men of science and Arbitration by which means [government] 
Ministers may become acquainted with scientific facts interest- 
ing to the nation, and Justice may be done to me, more liberal 
and honorable terms cannot be proposed, these terms I have 
a right to demand [them] and My Lord I now do demand them, 
I look to your Lordship and Lord Howick for prompt Justice 
I demand it as my right And I never will Submit to [receive] 
plead for it as a favour 

My Lord if I have not before monday next Satisfactory As- 
surance that Arbitraters Shall be immediately Named on the 
part of Government And my [Claims] Business [immediately] 
proceeded upon in a prompt and liberal manner I will on the 
commencement of next week put this letter in the public prints 
and proceed to publish such details and demonstrations As 
will put it in the power of the nation to Judge if my rights, 



FURTHER CORRESPONDENCE 121 

the Justice of Ministers And the importance of a Subject ex- 
tremely interesting to [them] every Englishman. 

I am my Lord your Lordships most 
Obedient and Very humble Servant 

Robert Fulton 
Lord Grenville, 
June the 19th 1806 



Lord Howick 
My Lord 

As yet I can neither see nor heard from Lord Grenville 
nor Mr. King. Inclosed Is a copy of a letter which I have 
written to his Lordship degrading neglect, to a man in my 
situation, compels me to take the measures which I have 
adopted ; 

I am My Lord your Lordships 
Most Obedient [and] 

R. Fulton 
June the 19th 1806 

These three letters not delivered for the 
present the following two Substituted, 



The two letters that lie substituted were addressed 
one to Mr. King and the other to Lord Howick. 

The copy of the King letter, now in the possession of 
the writer, is dated but not signed. In it he still gave 
vent to some of the bitterness and threats contained in 
the letter to Lord Grrenville, but in gentler tone. As 
the censure is not now addressed to Lord Grrenville but 
to his secretary the irritating character is much softened. 

Ibbotsons Hotel June the 20th 1806 

Mr. King 

Sir 

Your Silence on my several letters Is a want of politeness 

and an Injustice which I feel in the most sensible manner I 

have offered His Majestys Ministers the Most rational and 



122 ROBERT FULTON AND THE SUBMARINE 

honorable terms, by proposing to submit my whole plans to 
men of science and arbitrators if Ministers have not time or 
doubt their own [power] ability to Judge of the powers and 
consequences of new inventions how can they expect to arrive 
at truth or get correct Ideas but through the medium of Men 
of Sciences, of their own appointment, to refuse such a pro- 
posal and what is worse to treat it with contempt is injustice 
to the nation and to me and is [the] sufficient to sink any man 
or men in the opinion of the [nation] public. I hope I Shall 
not be driven to the necessity of appealing to the public opinion 
on this point but that I Shall have prompt and reasonable 
attention immediately paid to my claims I hope sir for your 
immediate answer 



The letter to Lord Howick is a model of self-restraint 
as compared with the violent outburst of the withheld 
epistle to Lord Grenville: 

Ibbotsons Hotel June the 20th 1806 
Lord Howick 
My Lord 

I have not as yet seen or heared from Lord Grenville nor 
Mr. King nor received any assurance that my business shall 
be speedily setteled In a thing so Just and Simple as the 
naming of two Arbitrators why should such unnecessary delays 
and injustice be [extended to me] exercised toward me? Will 
Ministers necessitate me to lay my Claims before the public, 
and force me to such demonstrations and disclosure of facts 
as must be disagreeable to all parties and of serious conse- 
quence to the nation; My Lord I look to your Lordship and 
Lord Grenville for prompt Justice I demand it as my right 
and will not Submit to ask it as a favor. I am Conscious of 
my own Strength and resources I convinced the late ministers 
of them, they felt them and treated me with Justice attention 
and civility, I have offered to convince your Lordship and 
His Majesty present Ministers, of the truth of these powers 
by submitting the whole to men of Science and Arbitrators 
Your Lordship has intimated that [you] you doubted your own 
[capacity] power to Judge of the [power or] effect and ultimate 
consequences of my Inventions, then how do you expect to 
arrive at truth but through the medium of men of Science 



FURTHER CORRESPONDENCE 123 

My Lord this is common sense and [the Nation] Men of 
sense and the Nation will not approve of any other line of 
conduct in this Business — 

My Lord 3 months ago I informed you that my plans were 
laid for Sailing to America In July this is still my intention 
the time is fast approaching And one of the gentlemen who 
[was] agreed to act As my arbitrater must shortly leave town 
for these reasons I must [Insist on] [beg Insist] [beg] hope 
for your immediate decision, and answer to this letter. 

I am etc. 

R. Fulton 

As one reads these letters beginning with the moder- 
ate request to Lord Grenville on May 5th, the unwritten 
matter between the lines suggests that Pulton was not 
very hopeful of obtaining either a satisfactory financial 
award or the personal treatment that he felt he was 
entitled to receive. 



Chapter X 
THE FAILURE OP THE NEGOTIATIONS 

Arbitrators appointed. Fulton's presentation of his case (Aug., 
1806). Arbitrators decide against Fulton. He makes a last appeal 
to Lord Grenville, reviewing whole case (Sept., 1806). No reply. 

The arbitrators were finally appointed. By that 
time the increasingly fault-finding note of Fulton's 
correspondence shows that his fears as to the outcome 
had become almost certainties in his mind, because he 
prepared a written brief for submission, the tone of 
which was far from hopeful. This brief is the 
" Descriptions " of this book. 

When the arbitrators met, those representing the 
government put sundry questions particularly as to 
whether any one would risk being caught in the sub- 
marine vessel and expose himself to being hanged in 
consequence of using engines not permitted by the laws 
of war; the sweeping of the Channel to locate floating 
bombs; the effect of storms on such bombs, and on the 
chance of a submarine being driven on shore by a storm. 
These questions were all met by Fulton in a very logi- 
cal manner. Both questions and answers are recorded 
as " Notes on Observations of the Arbitrators Particu- 
larly of Capt n . Hamilton and Sir Charles Blagden " 
attached to Fulton's own copy of the " Descriptions." 

These same notes show that Fulton made it clear that 
the plans he submitted to the British Government were 
so far in advance of anything he had proposed to the 
French that they constituted new plans. On this point 
he says: 

124 



FAILURE OF THE NEGOTIATIONS 125 

But, it may be said that my Experiments have been so Public 
that no part of my plan is now a Secret, I would ask who has 
seen the Plans and System which I have exhibited to this Com- 
mittee where is to be found did any gentleman here know 
them all or any part of them perfectly before I appeared,? It 
is true there have been Ideas of this subject scattered in the 
World but the impracticability of any important result has 
always been attached to them which Idea I perceive has much 
weight in this Committee. 

He urged on the Arbitrators that a list of questions 
which he sets forth in his notes bearing on the efficacy 
of his bombs should be submitted to Lord Kieth, Com- 
modore Owen, Admiral Demet, Captain Seccombe, 
Captain Salt, Captain King, Lieutenant Wm. Robinson 
and Captain Thomas Johnson of the Nile Cutter. He 
concludes his appeal to the Arbitrators in the following 
spirited language: 

Now Gentlemen I beg you to believe that I have not taken 
these measures nor made use of these Arguments to draw from 
you either Capital or Annuity I am not a Man much gov- 
erned by a thirst for Money, an honorabel fame is to me a 
much more noble feeling, But I like truth candor, and Justice 
to all Parties concerned with me in this Business, I have there- 
fore used these Arguments for the following reasons. 

First, That at this meeting it is right for me to Shew you 
in the most striking manner in my power what I conceive your 
danger and should you not see it as I do and future bad con- 
sequences should result to this Country the fault will not rest 
with me but with you and His Majesty's Ministers, and I shall 
not have to accuse myself of want of Candour — 

Second, I have used them to gratify two friends who have 
been kind to me, and who are more governed by the hope of 
gain than I am, I have now acquitted myself to this Govern- 
ment and to them, And neither this Government nor they have 
more to expect of me Therefore Gentlemen should your award 
not meet their views of Wealth, I shall feel free to act as I 
think proper And I will take the fame and Consequences of 
these Engines on myself Abandoning all calculations of a 
pecuniary kind, and the whole of the Drawings and Papers 



126 ROBERT FULTON AND THE SUBMARINE 

here exhibited shall be published within one year with all my 
Experiments in France and Negotiations with this Government. 
In fact I will do my utmost to make it a good Philosophic Work 
and give it to the World. I will then form a Committee of 
the most respectable Men in America and proceed regularly 
in Experiments on the large Scale publishing the result from 
time to time and thus drawing the attention of the ingenious 
and Enterprising to such Pursuits I shall hope to succeed in 
my first object that of annihilating all Military Marines and 
giving liberty to the Seas. 

Gentlemen a man who has the candour to give you this in 
Writing has but little deception or fear in his character and 
will not abandon so glorious an Enterprise for trifling Rebuffs 
or mean consideration 

At all events whatever may be your Award I never will con- 
sent to let these inventions lie dormant Should my Country 
at any time have need of them, Were you to grant me an An- 
nuity of £20,000 a Year, I would sacrifise all to the safety & 
independance of my Country, But I hope England and 
America will understand their mutual Interest to well to War 
with each other And I have no desire to introduce my En- 
gines into practice for the benefit of any other Nation. 

At the end of the " Notes " he adds his own views and 
a record that the decision, adverse to him, was signed soon 
after the conference was concluded. 

After the Arguments used in the preceding Paper, one would 
have thought that Justice and Policy would have induced the 
Arbitrators to hear Evidence on the practicability and probable 
consequences of such Engines, before they would venture to 
decide on a Work of Art of so much consequence, they did not 
however call in one Evidence nor hear one opinion and to my 
great astonishment the Award was Signed in one Hour after 
I left the room. Such inconceivable blindness to the Interest 
of the Nation, and Injustice to me on the part of Sir Charles 
Blagden and Captn. Hamilton, Induced me to write the follow- 
ing Letter to Lord Grenville and this I did that Ministers may 
have no excuse to plead that they were lead into Error by their 
Arbitrators, and again that my two friends may be convinced 
that I never abandoned their Interest as long as there was one 
reasonable hope of succeeding to their wishes. 



FAILURE OF THE NEGOTIATIONS 127 

There is a footnote to the copy as follows: 

This paper I read to the Arbitrators on the morning of this 
date and it is deposited with the Government. 

In the letter to Lord Grenville referred to above and 
given at length below, Pulton, it will be seen, states that 
he had deposited twelve drawings with descriptions of 
facts in the hands of Mr. King, secretary to Lord Gren- 
ville. This is undoubtedly what he means by the state- 
ment in his notes of the paper read to the arbitrators 
having been " deposited with the government." As 
the drawings were intricate and the paper very long, it 
is hardly probable that Fulton made three copies includ- 
ing the copy of the paper and tracings of the drawings 
that he brought home. As neither Mr. King nor the 
arbitrators had any need for the drawings and paper, 
it is quite likely that they were returned to Fulton, who 
left them with Consul Lyman as described in his letter 
to Barlow and which are consequently the foundation 
of this book. 

The letter to Lord Grenville to which Fulton refers 
is worthy of reproduction as it is a general summary 
of his case written immediately before his departure for 
America. It is his last appeal, and in it he uses every 
argument that occurs to him. 

Ibbotsons Hotel, September the 3d 1806 
To the Right Honorable 
Lord Grenville 
My Lord 

As the subject of which this letter will treat is of the ut- 
most importance in as much as it may render the power and 
independence of Great Britain doubtful and a wrong judgement 
of it may not only involve the country in complicated evils 
but attach eternal blame to his Majesty's present ministers of 
whome your Lordship is one. I Shall hope for your calm perusal 
and deliberate contemplation of the following facts and ob- 
servations on the means which science has developed for de- 



128 ROBERT FULTON AND THE SUBMARINE 

stroying military marines and in such case what would be the 
fate of England? There is one suit of thinking which gains 
easy access to an intelligent mind, and opens the way to a 
right Judgement on the progress of the arts and the possibility 
of effecting every thing which is within the limits of physics 
it is that all science is progressive every year exhibits new com- 
binations and effects, Steam engines, Cotton Mills, Telegraphs, 
Baloons, and submarine navigation and attack have all appeared 
almost within our memory, and only Vulgar minds harbour 
the thought that a Physical possibility is impracticable because 
it has not already been done, It does not require much depth 
of thought to trace that science by the discovery of Gunpowder 
changed the whole art of war by land and sea and may by 
future combinations sweep military marines from the ocean 
My Lord I have discovered the means which may produce such 
an effect, and by ample experiments proved them true, that is 
I have proved them to a degree which should convince every 
reflecting and unprejudiced mind, Common minds which cling 
to the Ideas of forefathers, or established customs are only to 
be convinced by demonstrations which enter at the Eyes. But 
if in this case the marine of England must be destroyed to 
convince the Vulgar of the possibility it will then be too late 
to reason on the consequences It is to avoid being driven to 
so dreadful a proof of the power of my engines that I now 
take the liberty of calling the attention of your Lordship to 
this Subject, Of the principles of the Engines I have deposited 
twelve drawings with descriptions of facts and reasonings on 
them in the hands of Mr. King who I believe has committed 
them to the care of Alexander Davison Esq 1 ". In St. Jameses 
square which drawings and writings were made for arbitrators 
who had to decide on my claims under a contract made with 
Mr. Pitt and Lord Melville. 

Of the Arbitrators two Mr. Davison and Dr. Cartwright are 
of opinion that all military marines may be destroyed by the 
means which I have Exhibited, how far Sir Charles Blagden 
and Capt. Hamilton may be of that opinion I cannot tell but 
resting on their own judgement they never heared evidence 
nor called for the opinion of nautical men, on the several modes 
of using the machines, hence Ministers are Still in the dark 
as to what may be the power Practicability and consequence 
of such engines. 

Now my Lord his Majesty's Ministers cannot do Justice to 



FAILURE OF THE NEGOTIATIONS 129 

the public nor guard their own honor untill they enter into a 
full examination of my system and take the opinion of many 
nautical men on the means by which such engines may be used 
for out of the opinion of the many a right thinking may arise. 

I would therefore propose a meeting of His Majesty's Min- 
isters, Your Lordship, Lord Moira, Lord Henry petty, Lord 
Howick, Lord Erskine, Mr. Fox if his health will permit and 
Mr. Windham, or any other Gentleman whome it may be 
thought right to call in, And that before them the opinions shall 
be taken of Lord Kieth, Admiral Demet, Sir Even Nepene, Com- 
modor Owen, Capt. Seccombe, Capt. Salt, Capt. Thos. Johnson 
of the nile Cutter, and Lieutenant Wm. Robinson — or such 
other persons as have seen the experiments and know most of 
the engines 

But should this mode be inconvenient a Committe of 12 
Nautical men to examine and report on the plans which I have 
exhibited, by such means & such only Ministers can do Jus- 
tice to the public and get a clear understanding of this subject 
And at Such committee if thought proper I will attend and 
explain my several modes of attack which will give gentlemen 
an opportunity to see what means they can devise to prevent 
your commerce being distressed and your marine by such en- 
gines were they in the hands of an enemy and practiced by them 
against this country, 

There are many powerful reasons why such investigation 
Should be entered into. 

First 

That if what I ascert be fact and Ministers refuse to take the 
rational and easy means here pointed out of being rightly in- 
formed and my engines should be practiced to the Injury of 
the commerce and fleets of England the people will not Suffer 
in silence but attach the whole blame to Ministers for wilfull 
neglect, therefore in as much as gentlemen regard their future 
reputation this Subject is of serious consequence to them, 

Second 

If the Engines be harmless it certainly is important to be con- 
vinced on this head But will Ministers consent to be convinced 
on Vague reports and Vulgar opinions which accompany all 
new Inventions and not calmly sit down with nautical men 
and by examining principles penetrate into facts — ? My Lord 



130 ROBERT FULTON AND THE SUBMARINE 

men of sense must penetrate into all the facts connected with 
this subject and that His Majesty's Ministers may not have the 
least excuse, that they have not had a fair and timely warning 
on what maybe the consequence of these inventions I have 
Written this letter which I beg your Lordship to Communicate 
to His Majesty's ministers. 

In case of a Committe of investigation I conceive the prin- 
ciple points for consideration and to guard the interest of the 
nation will be as follows, 

First 

What is the present state of perfection of submarine navigation 
and attack,? 

Second, 

To what state of perfection is it capable of being brought 

Third 

With such engines in the hands of an Enemy could they injure 
the commerce fleets and independence of England? 

Fourth 

What is the general opinion of this subject and public knowl- 
edge of it,? 

Fifth 

Under all considerations is it policy to practice such engines 
or to let them be practiced,? 

Sixth 

Is it the interest of the nation that they should rest in their 
present state and is the public or European mind so little im- 
pressed with the use of Such engines that they may rest in 
their present state of incertitude? 

Now My Lord permit me to give you my opinion It has been 
proved by the most satisfactory experiments, that were an 
Enemy in possession of all the means which I exhibited to the 
Arbitrators they could at any time in two months embarrass 
the commerce of England in the most distressing degree, Or 
should they think proper to persevere in the practice of such 



FAILURE OF THE NEGOTIATIONS 131 

Engines they could destroy the whole British Marine And I 
thing it cannot be doubted that The french Emperor whose 
most ardent wish is to get freedom for his commerce would 
practice such engines were he acquainted with them, knew the 
modes of using them and the immense advantages they would 
give him, That he has not such a Knowledge is in some de- 
gree proved by his not making any move in the manufacture, 
practice or use of them, — For although I made some experi- 
ments in france they were always thought more curious than 
useful and the French never were impressed with the Idea that 
any advantage could be drawn from what I had done, which 
opinion prevails in this country at present, The feilure at 
Boulogne has also spread the Idea that the engines are harm- 
less, but the want of success at Boulogne was in consequence 
of not having experience, and no defect in the principles of 
the Engines, hence under these impressions in france and 
England I believe these inventions may lie silent for many 
years — 

From this I infer that it rests with me and my friends in 
America whether these inventions shall sleep or or be rendered 
fameliar to all nations, of this Gentlemen can Judge on 
investigation 

When I was invited to this country a prospect of emolu- 
ment was held out to me in some degree proportioned to the 
Value of my engines but in consequence of Lord Melville going 
out of office, The death of Mr. Pitt the change of Ministers 
and opinions on this subject the agreement with me has not 
been fulfilled. Therefore My Lord after Seven Years Labour, 
Experience Expence and Successful experiment It is reason- 
able and right that I should convert my inventions to my own 
use in every honorable way, your Lordship or any other man 
in my situation would act in like manner, And it is right now 
to assure your Lordship that I never will Suffer these inven- 
tions to rest till I Succeed; But as I have no desire to in- 
troduce these inventions Into practice unless my country should 
have need of them and which I hope will not be necessary as 
long as England and America understand the true interest of 
their commerce I still offer my neutrality to this government 
on Condition that Ministers will meet the Ideas held out to me 
on coming to England, 

This my Lord is placing the security of the Commerce and 
fleets of England in the Balance against a few thousand pounds 



132 ROBERT FULTON AND THE SUBMARINE 

Or an Annuity, which Annuity to be continued to me only so 
long as such engines are not used by France or any other nation 
against England, The resting my pecuniary hopes on such 
conditions is perhaps the best proof which can be given of my 
conviction that such engines are not yet sufficiently known to 
be turned against this nation. In Such an arrangement It 
should be a condition that government Should not permit such 
engines to be used by any british subject least they should be 
made known, and turned against this country Or should the 
present or future ministers use them they should fulfill the 
terms of the contract for fourteen years as Stipulated in Said 
contract — 

But Should terms to this effect not be Acceeded to I must 
from necessity place the whole system in such a position as 
will give it to the world I must also publish this letter, the 
nation will then Judge whether I have acted frankly And 
whether Ministers have done Justice to the public and to me, 

My Lord having made you this communication your honor 
and future fame is involved in this question, the high situation 
which you hold as one of his Majesty's Ministers and your 
Consequent responsibility to the nation together with my full 
conviction that what I have here said is not only practicable 
but easy is the reason I have taken the liberty thus to address 
you, — 

I now beg your Lordship to believe that although this busi- 
ness has been treated in a manner extremely disagreeable to 
my feelings and I have been much disappointed in not finding 
the calm and rational investigation which I hoped for, yet I 
have not one feeling of enmity towards this nation or any one 
of his Majesty's Ministers I make every allowance for estab- 
lished opinions and Ideas of art which particular education fix 
on the human mind And my wish ever has been that this 
subject should be one of reason and not of passion or prejudice 
And for this reason I again submit it to your Lordship and His 
Majesty's Ministers before I leave the Country which will be 
in a few days. 

Believe me my Lord impressed 
September the with the greatest respect for 

3d 1806 your high Character and 

Sense of right 

Robert Fulton 



FAILURE OF THE NEGOTIATIONS 133 

The above is an argument. Pulton placed his facts, 
which were summarized as a series of questions put by 
him to the arbitrators, or by them to him, and recorded 
by Fulton in a — 

Second Letter 

To the Right Honorable Lord Grenville 

On Questions, Answers doubts and Considerations at the 

Arbitration on the powers of Submarine navigation and attack 



After exhibiting the Engines to the arbitrators and the Various 
modes of using them I put the following questions to the four 
arbitrators, 

First 

Will the explosion of a submarine Bomb of one or two hun- 
dred pounds of powder under the bottom of a Ship of the line 
destroy her,? 

Answer, we believe it would the blowing up of the Brig 
Dorothea in walmer roads being indubitable proof — 

Second 

Were an instantanious bomb anchored under water and a Vessel 
to run against it so that the bomb should strike any place 
under her bottom and explosion there take place would it destroy 
her,? 

Answer, we believe it would, 
The power of the engines being thus acknowledged the follow- 
ing opinions were started by Capt. Hamilton as difficulties in 
the way of using them. 

First 

Where can men be found who will have courage to use such 
engines, who knowing that were they caught they would be 
liable to suffer death for using engines not admitted by the laws 
of war hence what advantages could the enemy draw from 
Such engines? 



134 ROBERT FULTON AND THE SUBMARINE 

My Answer 

Englishmen have had courage to run four times among the 
Enemy in Boulogne roadstead with such engines and have 
courage to do so again Then is it suffecient security for England 
to rely on that frenchman have not courage to take advantage 
of dark nights to anchor submarine bombs in the waters near 
Boulogne where the blockading squaderns usually cruise or near 
the Black rocks or ushant where the brest Blockading squadern 
usually cruise or off cape Grinez or half channel over In the 
waters where British fleets now cruise without a feeling of 
danger, Should the French Emperor adopt such a system and 
Issue a proclamation that he would retaliate man for man who 
would hang a Frenchman? This is for Ministers to consider; 

Second objection of Capt H 

Were ten thousand of such bombs anchored the first storm 
would drive them on shore and destroy them. 

Answer 

The Buoys to mark shoal water are held in the Same spot in 
all weathers yet Buoys are of a large Volume and exposed to 
the shock of the surface of the water which is much more violent 
than the action ten or fifteen feet deep, therefore if Buoys be 
held by suffecient anchor and cable, a bomb of not one fortieth 
of the Buoys Volume may be held also, but to decide on this 
doubt let a bomb without a lock be anchored in Dover Roads 
and if it be not found there next Spring I will give up this 
point. 

Third objection of Capt. H. 

A few vessels with cables stretched could sweep the channel 
and destroy the Bombs. 

Answer, 

What would be the situation of a commercial country like 
England were she obliged to lay an embargo on her trade and 
keep her Ships of war in port till 3,000 square miles of channel 
were swept once a month,? for while sweeping the Channel 
in one part, the enemy could be laying down bombs in several 
places, Suppose for example that the Enemy had anchored 



FAILURE OF THE NEGOTIATIONS 135 

500 or 1000 bombs from the lands end to the number they who 
were to sweep them not knowing where they were laid would 
be necessitated to sweep the whole channel to find them, and 
another difficulty occurs, for not Knowing the number which 
were put down who could tell when exactly every one was 
taken up? 

Will Capt Hamilton have the goodness to point out to his 
Majesty's ministers a certain mode of keeping the channel free 
from such engines so that the British commerce and fleets may 
move with all the security and confidence which they at present 
enjoy*? 



*When a few hundred of such bombs are anchored it is im- 
possible to clear the Channel of them nor give confidence to 
navigation till they destroy themselves in the given time for 
which they were set, That is from one to twelve months. This 
I know how to do, Therefore the danger may be laid down for 
any time from one to 12 months and the trade destroyed for 
any period which the french might think proper, 

Fourth Objection. 

And one to which I believe all the arbitrators Yielded but which 
they did not give me an opportunity to answer and which I 
shall now do. 

That such a system of Attack would not only destroy English 
but all neutral commerce, and even the commerce of f ranee that 
consequently Buonapart would not use it — 

Answer 

When any port is blockaded the commerce of all neutrals as 
connected with that port is distressed But as the existance 
of England depends on her uninterrupted commerce while 
France is more Agricultural, and as france could lay down such 
engines in the channel so as to distress British commerce yet 
leave Brest, Bordeaux and the Medeterranian free to her own 
trade unless England laid down bombs also in which case mari- 
time war would become a war of Bombs in which France would 
have the advantage in consequence of her trade with Spain and 
her own frontier, the Question then would be which of the two 
nations England or France could bear such interruption of their 



136 ROBERT FULTON AND THE SUBMARINE 

trade for the greatest length of time and which must finally 
yield to the dictates of the other In such a contest where every- 
thing is to be gained 

Nepolion is not of a temper to consult the temporary Interest 
of Neutrals and it will not be wise in his Majesty's Ministers 
to risk it. 

Questions put by me to Capt Hamilton and which I desired 
might be put to Lord Kieth, Admiral Demet, Commodor Owen, 
Capt. Seccombe, Capt Salt, Capt. King, Capt. Thos. Johnson 
of the nile Cutter, and Lieutenant Wm. Robinson, but which 
was not done, Consequently an injustice has been done to me 
and to the Government by leaving ministers ignorant of the 
facts connected with this subject. 

First Question 

Were you informed that two hundred or more of Such Bombs 
were anchored in any particular Channel would you venture 
to Sail through it and among them, 
Answer by Capt Hamilton no 

Second. 

Had the Enemy three or four hundred good row boats with 
six or seven thousand men exersised to them and such boats 
were established along their coast in tens or twenties, from 
Ostend to Brest with a magazine of bombs at each place how 
could they be prevented anchoring bombs in such places as 
would endanger the commerce and fleets of England,? 

Third 

If while sailing in a fleet you saw two or three of the head- 
most Vessels blown up by such invisible engines would it not 
destroy your confidence in sailing in such waters? 

Fourth 

Is there any enemy so distressing to the mind of a seaman or 
so calculated to destroy his confidence as one which is invisible 
and instantanious destruction and which cannot be avoided 
but by forsaking the Seas where they are? 



FAILURE OF THE NEGOTIATIONS 137 

Fifth 

As each bomb will cost 14 say 20 £ and fifty thousand of them 
may be made for a million sterling is the expence compared 
with the advantage which is would give France any considera- 
tion to prevent the adoption of such a plan as one thousand 
Bombs would distress the trade for one year — 50,000 would 
extend their terrors to 50 years, 

Now my Lord I appeal to common sense whether the ob- 
jections started by Capt Hamilton are sufficient security for 
the great interest which this nation has at Stake against such 
engines,? 

I am my Lord your Lordships 
most obedient and very humble 
servant 

Robert Fulton 
Sept 3d 1806 

Further remarks on the arguments of 
Capt Hamilton 



What claim said he has Mr. Fulton to Forty thousand pounds 
or ten thousand or any other sum from this government, while 
many british seamen of the first talents do not get half the 
sum in a whole life of exertions? I myself would feel happy 
to be so rewarded. 

Answer. 

This is no part of the Question the point for consideration 
is have I fulfilled my part of the contract? and aught not 
government In Justice to fulfill their part? But I will now 
put my pretentions to ample reward in another point of View. 

If I cannot exhibit to the world an easy mode of destroying 
all military marines and consequently the whole political in- 
fluence of England If I cannot give a clear prospect that by 
my exertions and the exertions of my friends my plans must 
in a short time be adopted by European nations at varience 
with England then I will admit that I have no pretentions 
to any sum from this government, but for the time already 
spent and which I consider as paid, 

But if science and industry has developed to me a means 
which by my exertions and the natural order of things must 



138 ROBERT FULTON AND THE SUBMARINE 

destroy all military marines and consequently that of England, 
and if to preserve the power of the British marine undeminished 
is worth millions to the nation it follows that my neutrality 
is of as much real value to the nation as the active services 
of any man in it,. And I might say of more for there is not 
nor ever has been an individual in England who could render 
services to the country equal to what the marine gives yet 
there are Gentlemen whose income from government is from 
five to ten thousand a year for services which hundreds of men 
can do when I speak of reward it is for what only three men 
beside myself can do that is my two friends in America and 
the Earl of Stanhope in England. Whether I possess such 
powers and for my neutrality merit ample compensation can 
only be known by investigating the principles and practice of 
the engines. 

Robert Fulton 

In his letters Fulton has made a number of references 
to his friends who were associated with him. In the 
above letter he gives the only clue as to whom they 
might be. At the time when this letter was written, 
both Robert R. Livingston and Joel Barlow had returned 
to the United States. 

The above two letters on which he staked everything, 
were too important to be entrusted to a messenger, so 
Fulton carried them himself. In order to be sure that 
Lord Grenville should be acquainted with the contents, 
Fulton read them aloud as is shown by the following 
footnote : 

On the 3r of September 1806 I had an interview with Lord 
Grenville in Downing street I entered his room about three 
oclock he was, alone handed me a chair I sat down near him 
and after a few words I read him the preceding letters, on 
which no comment whatever was made His Lordship only 
observed that he could not then say anything on the Subject 
and I retired. 

That was the end. His work of twenty years in Europe 
was finished! 



Chaptek XI 
EETURN TO AMERICA 

Summary of the British negotiations. America used as a threat. Offer 
of neutrality. Fulton's review of the past and plans for the future. 
Appeal to Jefferson. Departure for home. 

One's sympathy goes unreservedly to Fulton. He was 
at this time almost forty-one years old. He had fought 
his battle of life alone, without money, and with only such 
friends as he had attracted to himself from time to time. 
He had tried several avenues that might lead to success, 
but he found that one after the other came to an end in 
desert fields. To his latest effort he had devoted nine 
years. It had been the most promising of them all. It 
had brought him in contact with many powerful people, 
it had provided action that he sought, it was lighted with 
the bright hopes for success, and for the past two years 
had furnished a comfortable living, the first of any of his 
efforts so to do. But now this avenue like the others had 
reached an end. This disappointment must have exceeded 
all his previous disappointments. He had abandoned art, 
small canal construction and his excavating devices at a 
time when no one of them offered any great encourage- 
ment. In none of his earlier efforts had he attained a good 
foothold. In his submarine he had buried more time and 
energy than he had in any of his other lines : in fact, he 
had spent nearly one half of the years since leaving home 
in its study. Whatever estimate he had placed on art and 
his various engineering projects, this time he knew that 
he was right. There was no doubt in his own mind as to 
the correctness of his reasoning and the workable qual- 

139 



140 ROBERT FULTON AND THE SUBMARINE 

ities of his invention. All the harder it must have been, 
when he realized that he could not make men see it as he 
did, other than his two unnamed friends in America and 
his one friend in England, the Earl of Stanhope. 

His emotions on sailing from England were of a dis- 
tinctly different character from those he felt when leav- 
ing Prance. In the latter country he had been rejected 
with contumely, the first real shock that he had experi- 
enced. He departed from France sore and angry, as 
has been shown. In England he had been treated 
quite otherwise. Throughout his stay of twenty- 
eight months he had been shown every courtesy. 
He had the entree to government offices and enjoyed 
the confidence of the highest officials, including 
Mr. Pitt and Lord Grenville, in turn prime min- 
isters. The disagreement with the British Government 
was on financial grounds. During his period of work he 
had received a generous salary in addition to reimburse- 
ment for all his expenses. Development of events made 
Pulton no longer necessary to the Government on the one 
hand, while on the other his steamboat arrangement with 
Chancellor Livingston was forcing Fulton's return to 
America. Both parties were ready to end the contractual 
relation. The British Government, not having received 
any direct benefit from Fulton's ideas, except the indirect 
one that he had been kept from going over to the enemy, 
naturally sought a means of terminating the contract 
without further payment. Fulton, equally naturally, 
sought substantial pecuniary reward. He was past the 
age when men have usually made their mark, and had 
accomplished nothing. His steamboat plans were as yet 
on paper with nothing more definite than hope. He was 
in debt to his " two friends in America," a debt that he 
could repay by no other means in sight than through his 
submarine contract. He, therefore, made the best fight he 
could, single-handed, to obtain a favorable settlement. 



RETURN TO AMERICA 141 

It is interesting to follow the working of Pulton's mind 
in these final negotiations for a satisfactory adjustment, 
as shown by his own letters. In his original contract of 
May, 1804, he made no reservation, but placed his ideas 
wholly and exclusively at the disposition of the British 
Government. It does not appear that he gave any thought 
to the use of his device by the United States. This is not 
remarkable. He had left America when he was but 
twenty-one years old. At that time there was no constitu- 
tion, no federal government, nothing but a confederacy 
of colonies disturbed by strong jealousies of each other. 
He had lived abroad for twenty years, including the form- 
ative period of a man's character. His sole tie with his 
native country, his mother, had been cut by her death. 
The Barlows were quite as much French as American. 
There was nothing except the friendship and personality 
of Livingston to rouse in him a sense of patriotism, or 
lead him to feel the existence of a national spirit in a 
united country in America. 

The first reference to the use of his submarine by 
America appears in his letter to Lord Castlereagh, dated 
" London December 13th, 1805," given on pages 104r-8. 
When this letter was written, it was becoming clear to 
Fulton that the British Government might refuse to make 
payment under the contract, and that he would have to use 
some sort of force to compel a compliance with the terms. 
The only force that he could employ would be a threat to 
give his secret to some other power. France was now quite 
out of the question, and there was no one power in Europe 
that could serve as a means to scare. The United States, 
now become a nation, was the only hope. In his letter to 
Lord Castlereagh he advances the ingenious solution that 
he receive a substantial cash payment and an annuity, 
the latter to continue only so long as the secret was kept 
inviolate by him. He concludes by diplomatically hinting 
that the only government to whom he would be likely to 



142 ROBERT FULTON AND THE SUBMARINE 

explain his invention would be his own. In the paper 
that he read to the Arbitrators he makes a distinct threat 
that, unless a satisfactory offer be made, he will not only 
give his secret to America but publish it to the whole 
world, although he modified this by stating that he had 
" no desire to introduce my Engines into practice for the 
benefit of any other Nation. " (page 126.) 

Although refused by the Arbitrators, he made a final 
effort with Lord Grenville, on September 3rd, to obtain 
his pecuniary award, by again offering what he called his 
" neutrality." (pages 137-8.) 

But the best exposition of Fulton's position is given 
by himself in the concluding pages of his Notes, this part 
being written after his letters to and audience of Lord 
Grenville on September 3rd. This quotation was his 
final word : 

" I have now said suffecient of this System to enable 
any ingenious man to make and arrange the Engines and 
any maritime nation to carry the whole into effect. If 
I live it is my intention to give this system to the public 
engraved with every necessary detail and I have made 
these sketches and this loose description which is litte 
more than a sketch of my studies on this Subject In 
order that they may not be lost to my country and man- 
kind in case of any accident to me, 

The prosecution of this system will put maritime na- 
tions on equal means of offensive war, will give them 
equal means of distressing each others commerce or de- 
stroying their Ships of war and consequently will produce 
the liberty of the Seas. What I mean By the liberty 
of the seas, is that all Vessels of all nations should 
carry any kind of Cargo to any port of any and every 
nation whever (wherever?) the owners thought proper to 
Send her if In such port she could not dispose of her cargo 
or found a duty equal to a prohibition then let her go else- 



RETURN TO AMERICA 143 

where, unmolested for the perfect liberty of trade is the 
real interest of all mankind. Under such a system Infi- 
nate stupid causes of war will be done away, and the 
genius and millions which are now Expended on wars, 
will then be directed to useful enterprises — 

With such immense and humain objects In View and 
which has been the great Stimules to my prosecuting of 
this subject, It may be necessary to give a reason for offer- 
ing to abandon these inventions to the British government 
to use or not as they might think proper. 

My first reason is that my country does not at present 
seem to require such engines And although I had written 
to Mr. Jefferson twice on the progress I had made and the 
final happy consequences of such a system I never had an 
answer from him nor do I know that I shall have the least 
encouragement in America to systematize these plans for 
the use of the Country 

Second, Untill my country feels the importance of 
these engines and seeing the power which they possess 
to give liberty to the seas, and will unite with me in 
introducing them effectually into the world, and consider- 
ing the immense advantages which America would gain 
from a perfect liberty of the seas, and would make my 
friends a reasonable compensation for the Sums they have 
advanced to enable me to prosecute my experiments, 
Untill my (" country," undoubtedly omitted) sees such 
advantages and does such things It is right that I Should 
do everything in my power for the interest of such friends 
and even to guard my own Interest Will any American or 
liberal minded man call such actions sorded and wish me 
to abandon years of Industry to the public good while 
neither he nor the government have offered one Shilling 
to promote so glorious an enterprise t 

Third 
As my country has not immediate use for such engines 
and the prosecution of my system may now be considered 



144 ROBERT FULTON AND THE SUBMARINE 

on the broad scale of general good It is no abandonment 
of my plan to take some years to reflect on it and give 
give it to the world with every demonstration of probable 
success. 

Fourth. 
As I am bound in honor to Mr. Livingston to put my steam 
boat in practice and such an engine is of more immediate 
use to my country than submarine navigation I wish to 
devote some years to it and Should the British Govern- 
ment allow me an annuity I Should not only do Justice 
to my friends but it would enable me to carry my steam 
Boat and other plans into effect for the good of my coun- 
try. It is therefore for this reason I have offered Eng- 
land my neutrality for the present and when I proposed 
an annuity it was only to continue for so long as my 
engines were not used by france or any other nation 
against England, this is doing justice to all parties and 
leaving me at liberty to abandon the annuity whenever 
my friends and I might think proper, to introduce the 
engines into practice. 

It never has been my intention to hide these inventions 
from the world on any consideration on the contrary it 
ever has been my intention to make them public as soon as 
consistent with Strict justice to all with whome I am 
concerned 

For myself I have ever considered the interest of 
America, free commerce the interest of mankind the mag- 
nitude of the objective view and the rational reputation 
connected with it superior to all calculations of a 
pecuniary Mind 

Eobert Fulton " 

It will be seen that Fulton made two appeals to the 
President at Washington, undoubtedly when his negotia- 
tions for a final settlement with the British Government 
were beginning to take a discouraging turn. But Mr. 



RETURN TO AMERICA 145 

Jefferson apparently never even acknowledged his 
letters. 

Scorned by France, played with and then rejected by 
England, ignored by America, Fulton with weary heart 
and disappointed spirit set out in October, 1806, on the re- 
turn to his own country, that he had left, with only forty 
guineas in his pocket, but radiant with youth's hopes, 
twenty years before. He still had hope, and his courage 
had never failed him. Now, at last, he was to win his re- 
ward, in the way most dear to him, by receiving recog- 
nition of his talents. Though he had but the short space 
of nine years more to live, nevertheless, before they were 
completed he was to achieve everlasting fame through his 
steamboat " Clermont." 

His submarine plans he had left in England. He dis- 
missed them from further consideration in the excitement 
of his other success. Then came his death, and his plans 
lay dormant. Others were to work over the same idea and 
bring it after many trials to perfection, until finally after 
an interval of more than one hundred years, it was to be- 
come, as Fulton foresaw, a great offensive force. It was 
then to be used, but not as he could have imagined, against 
the three countries, jointly, that he served and loved 
in turn. 



Chapter XII 
EXAMINATION OF FULTON'S DESIGN 

What the Nautilus accomplished. The British design compared 
with that of the Nautilus. Folding propeller. Horizontal propeller. 
Details of machinery. Effectiveness of the vessel. Screening the 
Channel. 

However interesting from an academic point of view 
may be Fulton's views on philosophy, free trade and 
social problems, and his personal peculiarities as dis- 
played in his negotiations with government officials, the 
animating question of historical bearing relates to the 
boat itself. Was the design practical, would it as de- 
veloped have been able to serve a useful purpose, or was 
it only a single step in a long process of evolution? 

The Nautilus, defective as she was in many particulars 
which Fulton admitted, clearly demonstrated certain 
facts: firstly, that a boat could be made to plunge and 
rise at will; secondly, that it could remain under water 
with a crew of three men for several hours; thirdly, 
that it could be manoeuvered and steered by the com- 
pass under water as well as on the surface. These 
features are the essence of the principle of successful 
submarine practice, and so much Fulton accomplished. 

It is a far cry from a little vessel like the Nautilus, 
no bigger than a ship 's boat that is carried at the davits, 
to a modern submarine capable of keeping the seas for 
many weeks, of crossing and recrossing the ocean without 
replenishing either stores or fuel, and of carrying not 
only torpedoes and apparatus for their discharge but also 
a 12-inch long-range gun firing a projectile weighing 
nearly one-half ton. Except as to size, which is not 

146 



EXAMINATION OF FULTON'S DESIGN 147 

really a basic feature of principle, the modern submarine 
differs from Fulton's proposals in that it possesses an 
engine actuated when on the surface by a fuel (oil) whose 
activity can be instantly stopped preparatory to plung- 
ing, and by a power (electric storage battery) that 
neither generates heat nor vitiates the air while sub- 
merged. For that combination of motive power the 
world had to wait another hundred years. 

The Nautilus, as a matter of fact, was something 
vastly more than a toy or experimental model. It pos- 
sessed real offensive powers, and a fleet of them, as 
Fulton proposed and as the British navy officials feared, 
would have been able to do real havoc. In estimating 
the offensive power of Fulton's design, the picture of 
the modern submarine must be kept out of sight. The 
latter is called on to meet conditions of mechanical de- 
velopment and types of hostile vessels that are as much 
in advance of those existing when Fulton lived, as is the 
complicated mechanism of a present-day submarine over 
the hand-driven propeller proposed by him. 

At the beginning of the last century, a ship-of-the-line 
was a very unwieldly affair. She was bluff bowed and 
high sided and consequently could be handled satisfac- 
torily only when " off the wind." Even under these 
favorable conditions, speed was comparatively slow. 
With a light wind, especially with a light adverse wind, 
she could make but little headway. Such a wind ren- 
dered capital ships practically helpless. That they were 
not destroyed by the opposing force was because at such 
times the opposing force was helpless too. A boat that 
had offensive power of attack and had means of loco- 
motion enough to overcome tidal currents would have 
been an effective menace. As Fulton pointed out, the 
only measure of defense by a large vessel at anchor would 
lie in a cordon of small boats. But a boat fully, or even 
partially, submerged would have had an excellent chance 



148 ROBERT FULTON AND THE SUBMARINE 

to get through a cordon and destroy her prey. In spite 
of the limitation of speed and cruising range that today 
would condemn any such boat as absolutely worthless, 
these limitations were sufficiently generous when com- 
pared with the status of naval architecture that pre- 
vailed in 1800-1806 to make Fulton's submarine, when 
he proposed it, a factor of actual and positive value. 

If that can be said of the Nautilus, all the more it is 
true of the design that he submitted to the British 
Government. Between the Brest experiments in 1801 
and his proposals in 1804, as evidenced by his " Drawings 
and Descriptions," it is clear that he had given the 
matter considerable thought and to some purpose. The 
specifications as submitted to the British agent called 
for a boat 35 feet long and 10 feet beam as compared 
with the similar dimensions of the Nautilus of 21 ft. 3 in. 
and 6 ft. 4 in., respectively, giving at least three times 
the tonnage. It was to carry a crew of six instead of 
three men with provisions sufficient to enable her 
to be kept at sea for 20 days. The offensive capacity 
was 30 submarine bombs (or mines) as against a single 
trailing one with the Nautilus. The vessel designed for 
the British Government was a real sea-going boat that 
could independently navigate the Channel while the 
little Nautilus could not venture far from land or from 
some large vessel acting as a base. 

An examination of the details, particularly those 
on Plates First and Second will disclose many improve- 
ments over the French prototype, shown facing page 
26. In the first place the hull is that of a seagoing 
boat, equipped with a well-developed sail plan for 
propulsion when on the surface and not the queer con- 
traption that the French marine architects condemned. 
On the surface this boat could have been handled as 
easily and she would have sailed as fast as any sloop 
of the same size. The mast could have been laid back 



EXAMINATION OF FULTON'S DESIGN 149 

on the deck and the sails disposed of in a few minutes 
preparatory to plunging. 

To plunge and again come to the surface of the water, 
ballast tanks, sea valves and hand pumps provided ample 
facilities readily to overcome or restore excess of buoy- 
ancy. The brass cylinder with the hemispherical ends 
would suffice to withstand the exterior hydrostatic pres- 
sure. The required thickness of shell was a matter of 
computation, one readily made with certainty even in 
those days. 

The difficulty with all early submarines was motion 
beneath the surface. In the British plan, Fulton pro- 
posed to obtain motion by a manually operated crank 
turning a propeller. The boat was larger than the 
Nautilus, but so also would have been the crew. For 
short distances he could undoubtedly have driven the 
boat at his estimated speed. The propeller was a two- 
bladed affair of modern type. Fulton had now definitely 
abandoned the full helical or Archimedes screw that 
Bushnell used and which he had himself tried in his 
first experiments. 

Reference to Plate First and its description will show, 
however, an exceedingly interesting addition that Fulton 
had made in the British boat. He reasoned correctly 
that a propeller when not turning would cause a con- 
siderable drag to the boat when sailing, and thus reduce 
her speed. He, therefore, arranged that his propeller 
could be folded so as to lie horizontally. This he pro- 
posed to do by a hand crank and gearing operated from 
within the boat. On Plate Seventh it will be seen that the 
propeller when folded lay well above the water surface 
and so would not have been an impediment to the mo- 
tion of the boat. When it is recalled that the propeller 
was not generally adopted as a means of vessel propul- 
sion until after 1845, when the steamship Great Britain 
crossed the ocean between England and New York, the 



150 ROBERT FULTON AND THE SUBMARINE 

first vessel driven by a screw propeller to accomplish 
the feat, and that a propeller that could be folded or 
hoisted above water was not introduced until about 1850, 
because at that period steam was merely an auxiliary 
to sails, it will be seen how far ahead of his time Pulton 
was in the design that he made in 1804. 

Another radical innovation was a horizontal propeller, 
Marked B in Plate First, attached near the bow of the 
boat. This propeller, also actuated by a crank from 
within the boat, was to give the boat vertical motion 
when submerged and so enable it to be kept at any depth 
that might be desired. This principle of the horizontal 
propeller is that of the helicopter, the device now being 
experimented with by airplane designers in order to give 
planes a vertical motion or permit them to hover sta- 
tionary in the air. It was precisely those same results 
in the water that Pulton undertook to accomplish with 
his submarine. 

The other mechanism in the interior of the boat is 
simple and self-explanatory. There were two anchors 
with windlasses, one anchor to hold in the usual manner 
against drifting, the other to regulate depth when lying 
stationary. There were pumps for emptying the water 
ballast chambers. On deck was a conning tower quite 
similar to the tower on a modern submarine, which served 
when closed as a lookout for the helmsman, and when 
open as means of ingress and egress for the crew. This 
conning tower had glass windows through which an ob- 
server could watch his' prey, or steer his course when the 
boat was partially submerged. Plate Pif th shows how the 
conning tower could be used when it should be the only 
part of the vessel above the surface. This particular 
plate is of peculiar interest in that Pulton has drawn 
a picture of himself looking through the glass-covered 
ports. In the original drawing the head is full size. 

Attached to the conning tower were two pipes marked 



EXAMINATION OF FULTON'S DESIGN 151 

F and G in Plate Second. These pipes led to the interior 
of the boat and permitted fresh air to be drawn in, and 
the vitiated or mephitic air (as Fulton called it) ex- 
pelled. These pipes permitted the boat to be submerged 
so that the deck was just awash, the only part above 
the surface being the upper half of the conning tower 
and the air pipes. This is the situation as shown in 
Plate Fifth. So operated, the boat did not differ mate- 
rially from a modern submarine under similar conditions 
with her periscope out of water. 

From Fulton's small conning tower he had only direct 
vision. A periscope enables the boat to be wholly sub- 
merged with vision obtained by reflecting mirrors. But a 
boat submerged so as to be just awash, with only the 
conning tower showing, and driven by a hand-operated 
propeller could have entered at night unseen almost any 
harbor, because in those days there were no powerful 
searchlights to illuminate the surface of the water at a 
distance. 

The British were right in the secret note that they 
sent to the naval commanders that Fulton's boat, 
even without the later improvements that he showed the 
British Government, could in the hands of the French 
have made an attack with very serious results upon an 
open roadstead such as the mouth of the Thames. 

According to modern phraseology, Fulton's British 
boat was a submersible rather than a submarine. The 
latter term defines a vessel that has powers of offense 
under water by torpedoes that in turn have means of 
locomotion. With such a torpedo neither Fulton nor 
the art was acquainted. His torpedoes or " bombs " 
were immobile affairs intended to be anchored, dragged 
by a boat or allowed to drift with the tide and to explode 
by concussion. 

With the Nautilus it is true that he contemplated 
dragging a " bomb " beneath the bottom of a ship to be 



152 ROBERT FULTON AND THE SUBMARINE 

attacked, and in this respect the Nautilus possessed 
some feature of a true submarine. The plan that he 
proposed for the Nautilus presented many serious diffi- 
culties depending as it did on the fixing of a spike in 
the bottom of the other vessel. Fulton himself appar- 
ently reached the conclusion that this suggestion was 
impracticable, through actual experiments or further 
study. The boat that he proposed for the British Gov- 
ernment had no such attachment, but instead was de- 
signed to carry " bombs " to be deposited secretly in 
an enemy harbor, and there to be anchored so as to re- 
main beneath the surface when they would come in con- 
tact with the bottoms of passing vessels, or to be released 
in couples held by bridles and thus to be carried by tidal 
currents across the cables of anchored ships when the 
" bombs " would be drawn beneath the vessel and 
explode. 

What Fulton called " bombs " are today known as 
mines. No means are shown in his plans by which these 
mines could be placed or released while his boat was 
submerged. The capability to submerge and to move 
beneath the surface was expected to permit the boat to 
work into a harbor unperceived, and there to lie in wait 
beneath the surface until night presented the opportunity 
to rise unseen, when the mines would be placed or set 
free. The successful experiment with the Dorothea 
showed that his mines could be completely effective and 
that, therefore, his submersible mine layer, as perhaps 
she can be correctly described, could have been developed 
into a very effective engine of war. 

In Fulton's bombs, as he calls them, we are not par- 
ticularly interested because he has fully described these 
devices in his book that he wrote on Torpedo Warfare. 
It is, however, in view of subsequent events exceedingly 
interesting to point out that Fulton foresaw the condi- 
tions that actually obtained in the recent war. 



EXAMINATION OF FULTON'S DESIGN 153 

On pages 71-2 of the " Descriptions," lie explained how 
hundreds of such bombs or mines could be strewn in 
the channel of the Thames or along the coast and it 
would not be in the power of the whole British marine 
to prevent such practice. This is precisely what the 
Germans undertook to do, forcing the British, even 
though they had control of the open seas, to sweep the 
Channel by daylight, day after day, in order to remove 
mines that might have been planted during the night. 
Furthermore, Fulton pointed out that a line of such 
mines could be strung from Calais to Dover, rendering 
it " impossible for any vessel to pass without certain 
destruction." When the German submarine attack on 
British commerce became seriously acute, the British 
authorities put into execution that which Fulton had 
suggested and strung a line of obstructions across the 
Channel from Dover to Calais thereby compelling the 
German submarines to pass around the northern coast 
of Scotland in order to reach the open sea. 

Speaking of the effect of submarines and mines, 
Fulton's language is worthy of repetition because the 
sinister side of his prophecy became so nearly realized 
between 1914 and 1918: 

The moment this System or any other reduces the British 
marine to Boat fighting, the revered Sovereignty of the Seas 
will be forever lost; Colonies must be Abandoned and the 
whole influence which England holds in the scale of nations 
will Vanish, This is the natural and obvious consequence of 
this system when reduced to practice and prosicuted by a 
powerful nation with energy and Spirit. The Wealth of 
England and the existence of her fleets depend on her immense 
and uninterrupted commerce, But should France ever possess 
a means to cut off or interrupt such trade, England would be 
obliged to submit to any terms which Bonapart might think 
proper to dictate. 



154 ROBERT FULTON AND THE SUBMARINE 

Substituting Germany for France and Hohenzollern 
for Bonaparte, we have precisely the very situation 
that existed in 1915, when the naval authorities of 
Germany expected to break the power of Great Britain, 
and in which attempt they came so perilously near 
success. 

The Commission charged by the Directory to examine 
the plan of the Nautilus gave credit in its report on Sep- 
tember 5th, 1798, to Fulton for having invented a terrible 
means of destruction since it acts in silence. That de- 
scription was merited, but it remained no more than an 
expression of private opinion. It failed to secure for 
Fulton the public support to which his device entitled 
him. The world, perhaps fortunately, had to wait a cen- 
tury for the production of this engine of destruction. In 
the light of experience an examination of Fulton's im- 
proved plan as contained in his " Drawings and Descrip- 
tions," fully confirms the decision of the French Com- 
mission in that : 



" LE BATEAU SOUS-MARIN IMAGINE PAE LE CITOYEN 



FULTON EST UN MOYEN DE DESTRUCTION TERRIBLE, PARCE 

QU'lL AGIT 

INEVITABLE. 



QUTL AGIT DANS LE SILENCE ET D UNE MANIERE PRESQUE 



